


Haven Raised

by Music_Feeds_My_Soul



Series: Harry in Havenfall [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Havenfall is for Lovers (Visual Novel)
Genre: After chapter 5 it's the Philosphers Stone. No HIFL until next story other then cameo, Black Hermione, Canon? What Canon?, Crossover, Desi Harry Potter, Don't need to know havenfall, Gen, Harry Potter was Raised by Other(s), Hermione is a good bro, Hermione isn't a bad kid, Hermione positive, Hufflepuff Harry, Hufflepuff Ron, I love to chat in the comments, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, LATER, Swearing, This is to fun, beta is here on chapter two, just bossy, keeping to the books here, no beta we die like men, ron weasley is a good bro, thank god
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-08-01 17:26:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 47,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16288745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Music_Feeds_My_Soul/pseuds/Music_Feeds_My_Soul
Summary: Harry's life is completely changed when his aunt and uncle are forced to take him to a funeral at a relatives. Now being raised by Primrose Evans, her sister Grace and the citizens of Havenfall, his life is going to be a roller coaster.





	1. Chapter 1

 Primrose Catherine Evans held Grace’s shoulders as they watched their grandmother being placed to rest in the ground. Grace was crying, rubbing her eyes as Prim tried to soothe her younger sister, barely listening in on her relatives who had come from Britain and their comments.

 “Didn’t know her well,” Petunia muttered to her husband. “But she was a good sort. Her son was a bit… odd but she was a good sort.” Prim shot a look at them as Vernon hummed.

 Ugh, she hated those two. Both were just… gah. They came into their house with their son and nephew and acted so freaking annoying. The only one she liked was Harry and that was because the eight-year-old was a sweet kid who wanted to help out. Though she wondered why he was so focused on helping cook.

 Dudley however was loud and rude and had ruined three separate pillows only to blame Harry which Prim said wasn’t right because he was with her the entire time, not that the parents cared. Petunia was gossipy and looked down her nose at them while Vernon was a sexist ass who also seemed homophobic given some comments he made as well as racist given his muttered comments about the Sheriff who had come around to check on them.

 “I’m boooored,” their son Dudley whined behind her, a little to loud but Prim could understand that. He was a kid. The sound of a punch made her turn her head to see him punching Harry. The parents didn’t say a thing, and Prim couldn’t stand it anymore.

 “You’re going to be that bad of parents to ignore your son hitting your nephew?” she demanded, glad the service was over now. The priest looked up and also glared at the parents, having also gotten sick of them.

 “Excuse me?” Petunia demanded, looking affronted.

 “You heard me, you let your son hit your nephew and you’re not punishing your son? I don’t mean your nephew but I guess I have to make that statement given how bad you two are and my own suspicions you’re the right kind of freaks to abuse a child.” Prim told the two, standing up taller and using a word she knew the two hissed at Harry. Petunia went red while Vernon went purple and Harry frowned. Dudley scowled.

 “The freak deserves it!” he shouted and that just cemented it.

 Prim could honestly say the rest was a blur, with her shouting at the Dursley family and many of the funeral goers all ganging up on them, the couple paling when they realized no one was with them.

 It got worse when Vernon lost his temper and tried to hit Harry. Prim moved and grabbed Harry, dragging him away as the priest called the Sherriff and Mackenzie showed up, teeth bared.

 In the end, it had Prim holding emergency guardianship forms for Harry, Grace was plotting how to revamp Prim’s room for a seven-year-old and with Vernon arrested and Petunia being informed she would have to stay in Havenfall for a while.

 “Well that was a funeral to remember,” she muttered and the priest snorted.

 “Not even in my top ten.” The man said before he walked off, leaving Prim staring after him.

-0-

Albus Dumbledore did not expect a device he had primed towards the warding around Number Four Privet Drive to go off as he was doing paperwork one August day. Jumping up, he cast a spell to check what was going on, finding that the device was claiming that the wards had been moved! He had planned on the Dursley family potentially moving, but Arabella hadn’t…

 He went right to the floo, grabbing some powder before flooing to Pivet Drive.

 “Albus!” Arabella said, looking surprised. “What’s wrong?”

 “The wards around Pivet Drive have moved,” Albus explained. “Have the Dursley’s moved at all?”

 “No! They went to a funeral in the states for a relative of Petunia’s.” Arabella replied, looking confused.

 “Do you know where?” Albus asked.

 “Yes, a little place called Havenfall…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: In this AU, Grace’s full name is Blossom Grace Evans but she goes by Grace because she was heavily teased as a kid thanks to the Powerpuff Girls and her name. Prim was teased to but it was more of ‘oh, Prim and Proper’ which she kinda turned on them a little. Because she did act prim and proper as a child which she then used to smash into their faces that yes, she is prim and proper, which kinda stopped the teasing.  
> The EXACT relationship is that Prim’s grandfather was sisters with Lily and Petunia’s grandfather. So they are second cousins. Their parents were SUPER close when they were still alive but there was issues with Prim’s grandmother and when Prim’s parents died, it was tense and then Lily and Petunia lost their parents and they only kept in contact through Christmas cards but with the death of their grandma, Petunia felt like she had to go to the funeral and here we are.  
> Prim is nineteen here. Lily died at age 21 which was about seven years before this story. So Prim was twelve. Prim really only remembers Lily as her pretty cousin from Britain. She has some photos but those are old and the last one was when Prim was five and lily was fourteen so yeah. Not close like that.  
> Also, I am going to be mum about anything Havenfall right now because I know I’m one of those people who read crossovers when I don’t know what it’s being crossed over with and I love learning about what the crossover is so I want to try and replicate that here. For those who are unaware- Havenfall is an otome game in which you can pick one of six characters to romance and you follow their story. I have kind of decided what route I am going to do which followers of me on tumblr probably can guess but while I do have plans, I will be posting an extra to this story that deals with ‘what if I chose BLANK instead?’ Or just random extra scenes.


	2. Chapter 2

Albus did not expect what he found in Havenfall after he asked Minerva to join him just in case. He had thought it possible the Dursley family had received an offer for a new job for Vernon or possibly they decided to stay a while for them to take care of the house.

He did not expect for the townspeople to be speaking of Vernon being arrested for child abuse and Petunia under watch while Dudley was also being watched in case she went after him.

“The worst sort of Muggles!” Minerva hissed at him. “I told you!”

“I know,” Albus replied, feeling every bit his age. “I know.”

“You know, that Primrose girl is off, but at least she stepped forward to take care of her cousin.” the owner of the diner said to the mailman.

“I don’t know about off, Luce. She’s doing something good. Who cares what her parents were like?”

“Their deaths-“ Luce began.

“Were bizarre, yes, but honestly? I don’t see how she could have done anything then?” The man shook his head and Luce glared, but Albus and Minerva quickly traded looks.

This Primrose had to be the reason for the wards changing.

-0-

Prim sighed as she moved some more of her old belongings out of her room, dreading the idea of moving into her parent’s room- which had been her grandmother’s room as well when she was alive. Running a hand through her hair, she removed it from its ponytail and re-fixed it, the tail having been slipping.

“Alright, so what’s your favorite color, Harry?” Grace asked Harry who was walking around like he was in shock.

“Ummm… I dunno? I like green I guess.” Harry shrugged, and Grace nodded firmly.

“Green, perfect! We can paint your walls green rather than the blue Prim has.” She made a note on the notepad she carried. Prim bit her lip. She really didn’t want to bring up money but… even with their parent’s life insurance and their grandmother’s, there wasn’t much to go on. The funeral cost a bit and she had used some in her travels…

Prim let out a long breath and stretched before she continued. She would focus on this first, then finances.

The doorbell rang as she carried a box to the living room. Frowning, she placed the box down and walked to the door to open it, revealing an elderly man with a long beard and a purple suit along with a woman in a nice dress and coat. Both looked like scholars of some type to Prim and she felt her spine straighten slightly. She felt a moment of anger that she wore a loose t-shirt and jeans covered in dust during this meeting.

“Ah, Miss Evans?” the man asked.

“Yes?” Prim asked.

“My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore and this is my colleague, Professor Minerva McGonagall, may we come in? We would like to discuss your new ward,” Prim frowned, eyeing them both but nodded slowly. She let them in and hesitated.

“Would you like anything to drink? I have water or coffee, perhaps tea if my grandmother…” Prim closed her eyes and grimaced.

“I am sorry for your loss,” Dumbledore said to Prim, McGonagall echoing him.

“Thank you,” Prim said.

“I will have a water if that is alright, and…”

“Water as well please,” McGonagall said politely. Prim nodded and went to get some glasses, wincing at the weirdness of said glasses. A Mickey Mouse cup, a princess one and a cup from some promotion for a movie.

The two didn’t comment though and quietly took the cups. Dumbledore seemed delighted by the princess cup while McGonagall seemed amused by Mickey Mouse.

“Why do you need to talk to me about Harry?” Prim asked, sitting straight in her seat.

“I was, unfortunately. the one to place him with his Aunt and Uncle. When we heard why he had been taken from them…” Dumbledore shook his head, looking sad and angry at himself.

“You failed to check in at all?” Prim asked, raising an eyebrow. McGonagall snorted loudly while Dumbledore looked embarrassed.

“I did have someone check in occasionally, but I had believed the ‘treated unfairly’ comments meant being punished more than his cousin, not… this.” Dumbledore said. Prim frowned at him and sipped her water.

“Why would a school professor be in charge of placing a child with guardians?” Prim asked, raising an eyebrow at Dumbledore who sat back after placing his cup down.

“That is a story Miss Evans, a very long one.” The man said before he smiled. It was a cheerful and happy smile. “First, I have to ask, do you believe in magic?”

“…Pardon?” Prim asked in confusion. Dumbledore turned to McGonagall who smiled and in front of Prim turned right into a cat.

Prim stared with an open mouth as Grace and Harry burst out of the hallway.

“HOLY SHIT THAT IS SO COOL!”

“Language Grace!” Prim said on reflex as Harry gasped in delight at the cat. “…Magic is real.”

“Yes, quite.” Dumbledore agreed as McGonagall changed back and smiled at Harry.

“Hello Harry, I’m Professor McGonagall and I taught your parents.” Harry blinked and gasped.

“Really? Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon said they were bad people but Auntie Grace and Prim say they were prob’ly lying.” McGonagall scowled and Dumbledore frowned.

“They definitely were Harry, but I believe we should explain things to you and your new family first…” Dumbledore said before he began his tale.

“Magic has been around for as long as the world has, and for centuries we have been separate from the Muggle world- your world- due to the Witch Trials that had occurred so long ago.” Prim nodded.

“That makes a fair bit of sense. Given how people react to things they do not like…” She wrinkled her nose. “It’s a rather awful thing, humanity. However, you do get the shining people who make life worth it.” Prim shrugged and smiled and Dumbledore shared it.

“I have to agree. Now-“ Dumbledore began to explain more, starting with speaking of a war. “It was against a man known as Voldemort who wished for wizards to rule over Muggles in supremacy. He led a reign of terror over the Wizarding World for years until one day he attacked a young couple and their son and he… simply vanished.”

“That son was Harry, wasn’t it?” Prim asked as she reached over to hold Harry’s hand, the little boy sitting beside her on the couch. He looked shocked at the comfort she offered and even more when Grace wrapped an arm around him.

“Yes. His parents died and when Voldemort tried to kill him, Voldemort himself instead vanished.” Dumbledore explained to Prim who gripped Harry’s hand tighter.

“You say vanished, not killed?” Prim asked, and Dumbledore’s eyes glanced at Harry. “…Harry, do you want to hear more, or do you want to be a little older before I tell you?”

“…I dunno.” Harry said softly. “…” He began crying, rubbing his eyes and Prim picked him up and put him in her lap, hugging him close as he sobbed. “Auntie Petunia and Uncle Vernon said they bad but they’re heroes? They love me?”

“Your parents loved you so much Harry,” Dumbledore promised as Harry continued to cry. Prim held him in her arms and rocked him, ignoring the snot and tears he covered her shirt in. Grace moved over to wrap her arms around Prim and Harry, the two hugging Harry tightly.

When he finally cried himself out, Prim sent Grace to put him to bed in her own bed, promising to continue cleaning out her old room after her chat with Dumbledore.

“He will be taking your room?” McGonagall asked in curiosity.

“Yes, I will be taking my parents old room…” Prim grimaced but pressed on. “I was cleaning it out before you came.” Dumbledore nodded while McGonagall studied her a little closer.

“Would you care for some assistance? Magic is quite useful in these situations.” She offered.

“I… I would appreciate it, though I wish to finish our conversation first,” Prim said. “You say vanished, not killed?”

“I… have suspicions that Voldemort may have turned to the darker arts to extend his life, and many of those may still tie him to the living world,” Dumbledore said slowly. “Which is why I placed Harry with his aunt and uncle. His mother’s sacrifice made it easy for me to create blood-based wards.” Prim frowned.

“I see… I suppose if this… Voldemort had been leading a reign of terror, he most likely had followers. They would not be happy a child survived, and he was most likely celebrated for it.”

“…Yes, that is an astounding logical conclusion and a true one.” Dumbledore said.

“Not really. If you look at history, you find that many genocidal maniacs had followers who either shared the same ideals or could be swayed,” Prim said. “As well as, the assumption that the only survivor is the hero is the next logical step. Although, if Lily did sacrifice herself for her son, I assume it was her doing. She is a woman, however and many people…” Prim shrugged. “It is easier to believe a male child did it. Ridiculous.”

“True,” Dumbledore agreed while McGonagall smiled at Prim, her eyes dancing a little. “Though there is also the fact that Lily was a muggle-born, a witch child born to muggle parents.”

“Also a reason, if I guess by your tone,” Prim said. “Why would Voldemort attack Harry and his parents?”

“…There was a prophecy made.” Dumbledore said after a moment. “About a boy who could destroy Voldemort born on the end of July.”

 “This is a complete fairy tale, then. Lovely.” Prim said, groaning and covering her face, dropping her prim and proper attitude for a second. “Is he safe here? Do I need to contact any magical authorities here?”

“The wards I set up would move with him,” Dumbledore explained. “As for authorities, yes. If you wish I could send a message to them and Code Black…” McGonagall sniffed at the latter sentence and Prim decided not to ask. “Or I could give you the contact information?”

“I would prefer to contact them myself,” Prim replied. “... Are there any of his parents’ friends still alive who would like to speak with him? Send photos, perhaps? I don’t really remember Lily much and the few family photos I have of her are when I was five. They are rather old.”

“Some did not make it through the war, and one…” Dumbledore frowned, thinking of Sirius Black. “Betrayed us.”

“That…” Prim shook her head. “That’s horrible.”

“Yes, and of the one who did survive… he suffers from a condition that has branded him a monster. He was forbidden from being near Harry or sending mail to him despite my attempts at changing that.” Dumbledore said sadly, thinking of Remus and how hard he had tried but Fudge had refused to budge at all.

“That is even worse,” Prim said frowning. “If he wants to visit, he is more then welcome to.”

“I will inform him,” Dumbledore said easily before he smiled. “Now though, how about we help you get Harry’s room ready?” Prim nodded and lead the two up, Grace coming out of her room with a grin.

“Can I see more magic?” she asked hopefully. Dumbledore nodded with a smile and Grace cheered quietly before they went to Prim’s old room. The boxes were moved out of the room with magic and upon learning Harry wanted green walls, McGonagall changed the walls to be green easily.

“Ah, as well- I will inform the goblins you are to be caring for Harry now,” Dumbledore said suddenly.

“…Goblins?”

“They run our banks.”

“Very well, good to know.” Prim frowned. “…Hold on, why them?”

“Harry is the last of a long line of wizards and as his caretaker, you will be receiving a stipend from them to cover expenses.” Prim let out a tiny sigh of relief at that, unable to stop herself.

“That reminds me, I need to contact the college to tell them I won’t be attending. I do hope they give me back my deposit…” Prim mused to herself as she directed the floating boxes into her parents’ old room.

“College?” Dumbledore asked. “Isn’t that the secondary option of schooling?”

“Yes. It’s to be further trained in subjects you can either use to make a career or for fun. I was going to go into the culinary arts, but I have Grace and Harry to look after now.” Prim shrugged and smiled, feeling a little pained but she would power through it.

She had to.

“I… I commend you.” Said Dumbledore softly. His eyes were distant, and it was obvious he was remembering something long ago.

“Is there no way for you to continue schooling?” McGonagall asked and Prim chuckled, realizing she was a teacher by her words alone, though the name did give it away.

“I could do online schooling, but I wouldn’t be able to take the scholarship I was offered. I can’t afford both that and raising Grace and Harry.” Prim sighed then. “I did apply at the local bowling alley, and I do have an interview tomorrow. I will hopefully have a job, and Grace does bus dishes at the diner in town…” Prim shrugged. “It’s still not enough. The money I’ll be getting will go to Harry… and groceries.” She admitted but Dumbledore and McGonagall nodded.

“Harry will be going to Hogwarts when he reaches age eleven, and it will be prepaid. Perhaps you can go to school then.” Prim nodded her agreement to that.

“I suppose.” Entering her parent's room made her flinch and stare, feeling the pricks of tears before she shook her head. No, she will not fall into memories. Leaving the room she brushed her hands together. “Thank you for your help.”

“Our pleasure Miss Evans,” Dumbledore said before he pulled out parchment and wrote down a few things. “I believe the MUSA has a phone you can call and Code Black has one as well.”

“Thank you,” Prim said politely before she ushered them out of the house and watched them vanish with a pop.

Okay. Magic.

…She really wanted to get drunk right then.

-0-

 Prim studied herself in the mirror carefully. She made sure her hair was in a nice ponytail while her make-up was subtle and careful. Her clothing- a nice blouse and pencil skirt- was clean and ironed.

“It’s Razi sis, you remember him right?” Grace asked as she came over in her busgirl uniform.

“Yes, as the guy we bought bowling shoes from. Not as a potential boss.” Prim replied. Harry stood next to her dressed in clothes Grace had tailored to fit him better than the castoffs he had been wearing. They were going to go shopping in a few days for clothing and other essentials for the young boy and Prim was looking forward to it.

“Okay, we go to this interview, then we come back and contact the MUSA and Code Black,” Prim said firmly to herself before she nodded in the mirror.

“You’ll do great Aunt Prim,” Harry said quietly, and Prim gave him her biggest smile before carefully hugging him, feeling him freeze in her arms and she really wanted to hurt the Dursley family. Grace’s face was pinched a little and she looked like she shared the same feelings.

“Thank you, sweetie,” Prim told Harry before she led them out of the house and to her truck, feeling a bit upset she couldn’t continue her travels around the country. It had been interesting, and her plan had been to continue during her summer months when she had time off.

But she had her responsibilities now and she would make sure she did not fail them.

Grace immediately turned on her CD and Prim pretended to groan at the sound of Jonas Quinton coming through the radio.

“Why~,” she whined playfully and Grace stuck her tongue out at Prim before she sang along, turning to the back of the truck where Harry was to encourage him to sing to. Prim laughed at the two before she continued her drive.

The diner was across the road from the bowling alley and Grace got out with a wave before she went to work. Prim took another moment to center herself before getting out herself, helping Harry out of the truck. They entered the bowling alley to find it empty. A man dressed in suspenders and a white shirt was wiping down a glass before he looked up with a smile.

“Oh, hey! You Prim?” he called out and Prim put her most business appropriate smile on her face.

“Yes, I am.” Razi Nassar blinked and squinted at her.

“Huh, I think I remember you a little from your high school days.” He said and Prim nodded, smiling politely. She remembered him as well, for the past… few… Prim blinked and closed her eyes, trying to recall how long he had manned the bowling alley. It felt like there was a fog in her memories like a picture was missing. She knew that the bowling alley was a family business. The Nassar family had founded Havenfall, too… but he wasn’t that old. Older than her yes, but… who had run it before him? She had gone to the bowling alley as a kid and, no it couldn’t have been Razi but she could swear it was him... “So, what abilities can you bring to this alley?” Razi asked. Prim blinked again and focused on the present, humming as she handed Harry a few coins.

“I am good at cooking, both with a deep fryer and a stove. I know how to handle money. I worked at a restaurant while traveling for a few weeks to fund a hotel while I was in California.” She smiled at Harry. “Go play a game, okay?”

“I can play an arcade game?” Harry asked in shock and Prim nodded with a grin, the little boy lighting up in glee. He took off to the games and Prim turned back to Razi with a smile.

“Thank you for letting me bring him,” she said to him and Razi waved a hand.

“Don’t worry about it, my own parents complained often enough about how hard it was to find someone to take care of me and my siblings when we were kids,” he laughed and Prim chuckled in agreement. “So you worked at a restaurant… done any retail either?”

“I worked at the gas station here the summer before I graduated,” Prim responded, walking over to the bar to sit on one of the stools. Razi nodded in acknowledgment.

“Oh yeah, I remember now. Well, I have to ask how are you at dealing with delinquents?” Razi asked. Prim snorted and then blushed.

“My apologies,” she said. Razi just chuckled. “I honestly don’t have a problem with wild teenagers. While I wasn’t that bad as a child, I was still a bit of a pest. I know other teens are pretty bad.” Prim replied.

“Hmm, good. We do get lots of teens,” Razi’s face was exhausted. Prim had to hide her giggle at the horror-struck gaze he had on his face, pressing her fingers to her mouth in amusement. “But I also asked because… I’m doing a favor for an old family friend.” Razi’s voice trailed off a little as he spoke and Prim frowned, tilting her head. “Said friend’s child has been… causing some problems. He’s asked if I could house them for a little while. They’re not a bad person but they are…”

“Troublesome?” Prim asked. Razi nodded. “I don’t mind working with those types. It’s not a problem.”

“Thank gods,” Razi muttered. His gaze went over to Harry who cheered at something. “He doing okay?”

“As well as he can be,” Prim responded. She didn’t really want to say too much to Razi. He may be a possible boss, but she did not want to tell him too much about her personal life. “Is it possible for him to occasionally show up here?”

“I don’t mind if you have him here occasionally. I would prefer you to focus on your job but I understand it’s hard to find childcare and…” Razi flinched a little but Prim understood.

She and Grace were the town weirdos. They were the kids who had parents that had died in a weird way, the kids with the strange names (nevermind it was an Evans tradition to have girls be called flower names), the kids raised by their grandmother. It didn’t make sense but Prim was quite used to it.

“Thank you,” Prim said to Razi who flashed a smile. “Would he be allowed to show up to do homework once school starts back up in a few weeks?”

“Of course,” Razi said firmly. “And… hey, you want to start tomorrow? I can show you the ropes and then I can give you the new kid when they show up.”

“Deal,” Prim said with a grin, offering her hand. Razi shook it firmly. “When will the new kid show up?”

“A month or so. Their dad has to… find them.” Prim frowned. The wording to Razi used felt off to her. She put it to the side though. She was not going to alienate her new boss.

Prim waited a little longer for Harry to finish his game, taking his hand with a smile as Razi flashed a grin at the eight-year-old.

“Hey… Harry right?” Razi asked. The boy nodded, eyes wide. Razi dug around behind his bar and pulled out a sucker, offering it to the boy who slowly took it, looking terrified it might suddenly be ripped from his hands. “Here, a thank you for being good during the interview.” Harry looked at Razi with wide shocked eyes and Prim really wanted to hurt the Dursleys even more. Razi chuckled and reached out to ruffle Harry’s hair, Harry looking even more shocked. Prim closed her eyes and counted to control her anger, missing the frown on Razi’s face.

Harry and Prim left the bowling alley to get back into the truck, Prim sending a quick text to Grace about getting the job.

“Did you enjoy the games, Harry?” Prim asked.

“Uhuh,” the little boy agreed. Prim hummed herself. She noticed he didn’t like talking much around her, something she was fairly certain was due to her being his guardian. He hadn’t had the best experience with them after all.

“That’s good,” Prim said. “Excited for Friday?” Harry shrugged and Prim dropped it, instead driving home. Harry quickly left the truck, holding his sucker tightly and Prim waited a moment before breathing out through her nose hard.

Leaving the truck, she let Harry into the house and turned on some random TV show. It looked like a reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle show.

“How many reboots do they need?” Prim asked herself, remembering the various reboots she had seen flipping through TV shows. Wasn’t there… a robot one? Or… Prim decided not to wonder about the various reboots she had seen and focused on working on calling MUSA and Code Black.

“Hello?” a voice said over the line once she called MUSA.

“Hello, my name is Primrose Evans. I was given this number by… Albus Dumbledore, I believe it was? I took in a relative, whom he knew the parents of, and he said this child will be going to his school.” Prim winced at the awkward wording but she felt like it was best.

“Oh! I see. Do you need someone to come out to ward your electronics to prevent frying?” asked the voice.

“I’m sorry, ‘frying’?”

“Yes, you see magic produces energy that mimics something like an EMP. Mostly it can be contained inside the body.” The voice said. “But at times it will be pushed out from the body and can cause problems with electronics.”

“Oh! Well then yes, I would like warding to be placed around my electronics.” Prim said. “Is there anything else I should know?”

“You live in a wooded area?”

“Somewhat- there is a forest near Havenfall but-”

“Wait, you live near Havenfall? In Indiana?” the voice asked in shock.

“...Yes?” Prim said slowly.

“Wow. That place is the nexus for ley lines. Lots of magic flowing around. I’m surprised your stuff works at all.” The voice was impressed but Prim frowned. No one had ever complained about electronics not working. “Alright, so we’ll send a warder. Anything else?”

“Truthfully, I’m not quite sure. Is there anything like a mailbox or postal service we need to sign up for?” Prim asked.

“Depends. The English use owls for their post. We use pigeons ourselves. Much less obvious.” The voice said. “We can set up a box here with a special ward on it to direct any owls away from you and the mail here will be teleported into a box you can set up at home though!”

“Splendid. I would much appreciate that option.” Prim said. After a bit more discussion, and the explanation that unlike the Mundane Government, the MUSA paid for a fair amount of their citizen's things like this, if they could not afford it themselves. The explanation of her ward having a large amount of money but her wishing not to draw upon it had the voice explaining they wouldn’t charge her still- something she was thankful for.

After that, she called Code Black.

“Hello, my name is Primrose Evans. I have recently taken charge of a relative who possesses magical abilities,” she said in the way the voice from the previous conversation had told her to do so.

“Where do you live?”

“Havenfall, Indiana,” Prim said. She gave her address and listened to the person work.

“Understandable. If there are any magical occurrences around you that require our attention please call.”

“Pardon?”

“Did the MUSA not tell you? Magical creatures or spirits are attracted to magical humans such as your relative. Sometimes they aren’t a problem but other times they can cause mayhem if not kept in check.” Prim nodded, ignoring how the person could not see her over the phone.

“Understandable. Thank you for informing me. If I require you to… deal with the problem I will call.” MUSA had explained to her that Code Black was more for the supernatural that did not fall into the category of Wizarding World- which apparently was a very broad term but mostly boiled down to the various magical beasts, creatures and things created by magical humans and the magical humans themselves. Learning there was more out there was somewhat shocking, but Prim resolved to push on ahead.

It wasn’t like she would have to deal with any of that anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off you probably notice the new tages. Yes, Harry is desi and Hermione is black. These things I did plan from the start but forgot to tag. 
> 
> While it is never said what the MC in Havenfall would study if she went to college, in JD’s route it’s mentioned she does the most cooking in the house and in Razi’s she talks about enjoying it but not having the right ingredients for it at times. As well, in Mac’s she helps cook a fair bit and in Diego’s route it’s kinda hinted at she enjoys eating food around the world, so here Prim was going to go to school for the culinary arts. Also in Van’s route she does like cooking as well. 
> 
> So given this is an AU and I hate the canon way the USA magical government is set up (Also, apparently it’s for all of North America? I started laughing because I doubt the USA would be chill with Canada sending students to their schools when us Canadians kinda just waited to be made our own country unlike the USA who fought for it. Also we burned down the White House. TRUE STORY.) I decided to have fun.
> 
> So The USA Magical Government is the MUSA and is relatively small. This is because Code Black actually takes on a few extra jobs and helps the MUSA out. Generally though only as police. The one time they tried any more they got their asses kicked.
> 
> Ilvermorny exists but honestly? It’s the worst school in the nation and regarded as the joke. Only like the really snobby people go there who pride themselves on their long tradition of wizardry. Most day schools teach the widest array of subjects they can and don’t just limit themselves to wizard subjects and try to be open and honest about everything.
> 
> Now, as for the fun of it I have made a poll you can go to to vote on who you think Prim will end up with. Yes, it is already decided but I’m honestly curious about who people think would be the better option for Prim or who they would like to see. I’m just curious. Poll is here: https://poal.me/t61hyj
> 
> For those who are aware of Havenfall or for those who won’t mind learning a bit extra, I have made a one-shot of a POV switch I will be posting in a separate story bit.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Last Week of August 2011_ **

 “I have never seen so much paperwork, ever,” Grace said as she stared at the pile of paperwork on the kitchen table. Prim sighed as she tugged her hair into a bun on top of her head.

 “Well, this paperwork is from the Goblins regarding Harry’s estate. Apparently, the Dursleys had burned all papers from them which probably was a good thing if you think about it.” The angry look on Grace’s face said she completely understood. It was even worse when you took in the fact they apparently burned Harry’s birth certificate because it had his name written Hari James Potter.

 Harry was quietly playing with some of the toys they had gotten him, and the look on his face made Prim so happy and so angry at the same time.

 Anger seemed to be a staple though. A lot of anger directed towards the Dursley family.

 “How much is it?”

 “Well given the… circumstances of Harry’s fame in the Wizarding World-”

 “That Warder was hilarious. Did you see his face? Lucky his boss was here and caught him with that spell.” Grace snickered. Getting their electronics warded had taken little time, but the hard part was when the person doing the warding had recognized Harry and freaked. His boss was with him though- doing evaluations apparently- and had hit him with a spell that stopped him from saying where Harry was for their safety.

 “Quite, but don’t interrupt Grace.” Prim scolded lightly. “With the circumstances, a few people willed things to Harry and some have even sent fan mail. There is a vault filled with the stuff.”

 “...What?” Harry and Grace asked trading looks. Prim nodded, feeling highly amused at the very confused faces the two had.

 “Yes, and I did draft up a proper thank you note for all who sent it, and the Goblins agreed to send copies for us,” Prim said as she grabbed said draft to hand it to Harry who took it quietly and looked it over.

 “It sounds funny,” he said. Grace read it over his shoulder and snorted.

 “It sounds like how you write Prim.” Prim rolled her eyes.

 “Well, it should. It’s very proper to write it like that.”

 “Yeah, well hopefully they do understand you wrote it and not Harry so he isn’t asked why his own writing isn’t so proper,” Grace said. Prim rolled her eyes at Grace who snickered.

 “Would they?” Harry asked in a small voice.

 “No, Grace is being a pest,” Prim said dryly. “Ignore her.”

 “Rude.” Grace teased before she ruffled Harry’s hair. “I’m going to bike to work! You have the afternoon shift yeah?”

 “Yes I do,” Prim said. Typically she worked every day but the shifts themselves would change. Given it was the last week before school she would be working mostly evenings or afternoons so she could help with the teenagers coming in for their last few nights of freedom.

 “...” Grace hesitated and Prim looked up from the papers she had picked up.

 “Grace?”

 “I… have some plans with Mike? The guy who works as a waiter at the diner?” Prim purposely pulled her glasses down a bit to look over them. Grace snorted. “Not like that! Mike’s… Mike’s gay and having a hard time with his parents about it. He just wants to hang out.”

 “Understandable, have fun then,” Prim said. Grace’s eyes flashed to Harry but Prim waved her off. Razi truly didn’t mind when Harry came to the alley and while it would be a late night, Razi had offered to let Harry sleep for a while in his office one afternoon so it should be alright.

 Harry quietly went back to playing while Prim flipped through the various papers. Most just talked about what kind of finances Harry had, how much Prim would receive a month for taking care of Harry- which was a fair bit honestly. Galleons changed into USD was a very nice rate. One galleon was worth ten dollars and Prim was still startled by that amount- though most of the money did go to Harry and his upkeep.

 But the other stuff was the worst. Apparently many people had been making money off of Harry’s name and while the Goblins did take a cut, they had also offered a lawyer to stop the more… disturbing pieces of merchandise. Which Prim eagerly accepted the help of, agreeing to let the Goblins keep the majority of the settlement in her letters.

 She never wanted to look at that thing again.

 “Alright, onto the Black family…” Prim muttered, finishing some of the paperwork. Opening the file for the Black family, she stopped.

_The Black Family Seat is owned by Hari Potter. Black Family Seat in use by Lucius Malfoy._

 That… did not seem right. Prim grabbed the large book she used to communicate with the goblins- one that was linked between two books and kind of worked like a texting app honestly.

_Is it correct that the Malfoy family is able to use Harry’s seat without authorization from his guardians? I do not see any authorization in the file._

 Nor did she expect it given the Dursley family and their burning of the goblin letters.

 _No,_ was the response. _Would you like us to deal with this?_

_Yes, please._

 It was the only response she could give. The idea of someone apparently using a seat- which sounded like a government thing- that belonged to an orphan child without permission… it made her angry. It was theft. It was disgusting.

_I ask you to make them bleed, please._

_A pleasure doing business, Miss Evans._

 Going to work that night was simple enough. They ate sandwiches at home and Harry brought a new book with him and some toys so he could play quietly.

 It was when they got there things were different. A large black motorbike was parked in front of the alley, which was confusing to Prim. No one in Havenfall owned a motorcycle as far as she knew.

 Harry stared at it in awe.

 “That’s so cool!” he said. Prim chuckled.

 “I am glad you think so, though I ask you not get a bike until you move out for the sake of my poor heart,” Prim said. Harry giggled and she marked it as a success in her relationship with him. She got out of the truck to adjust her work clothing. A bright blue bowling shirt and jeans, along with a pair of thick-soled boots. She liked boots and tended to prefer them over most other footwear.

 Opening the bowling alley door she was surprised to see a person wearing a leather jacket and with yellow and orange hair at the bar, scowling.

 “Prim!” Razi called out. “I want you to meet your new coworker!” Prim smiled then, leading Harry into the alley.

 “Pleasure to meet you,” she said to the person who raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m Primrose Evans, but most call me Prim.”

 “For that prim and proper attitude?” asked the person sarcastically.

 “Actually the attitude is because of the name,” she responded. The person snorted at that and offered their hand which she shook.

 “Jordan Davies, call me JD.” They said. “Pronouns are they/them.”

 “Pronouns?” Harry asked at that. Prim smiled at him.

 “Well you see Harry there aren’t just boys and girls in this world,” she told him. “And they don’t all use similar pronouns.” Harry frowned. “Sweetie?”

 “Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia…” he trailed off and Prim crouched down to smile at him.

 “Are horrible people who are very wrong, sweetie.” Harry frowned and looked down and Prim reached out to gentle ruffle his hair, causing the wide and shocked eyes again.

 “What about boys liking other boys or girls liking girls?” he asked and Prim smiled softly at him.

 “That’s completely normal and if they said it wasn’t they’re wrong again, honey,” Prim promised Harry who looked overwhelmed. “Need to go read?” He nodded and Prim stood up, letting him head over to the couch in the alley.

 “Cute kid. He yours?” JD asked, voice cautious.

 “He’s a cousin of mine but yes, he’s mine in every way that matters. His former guardians… weren’t appropriate.” Prim said. “Hence why I am the one currently taking care of him.” JD nodded, their eyes a little knowing.

 “He’s a good kid,” Razi said. “So, Prim, ready to train JD?” Prim nodded while JD groaned deep in their throat.

 “Of course. Do they need to change into their uniform?” JD made a horrified face while Razi snorted out a laugh.

 “They will get one, I just don’t have one ready currently.” Prim nodded and then smiled at JD.

 “Well then, let’s begin shall we JD?” Prim asked. JD just gave her a weirded out look. “Pardon?”

 “Do you ever drop the prim attitude?”

 “Never,” was the cheerful response as Prim began the task of teaching JD the ropes around the bowling alley.

 She quickly grew very annoyed.

 “Your comments are very UN-appreciated,” she said, emphasizing the un part of her sentence.

 “And?” JD asked with a smirk. Prim gave them a look they rolled their eyes at and she gritted her teeth.

 She could handle it but the comments about her mannerisms and the complaints about the work…

 Those were annoying.

 The door to the alley opened and in marched the Sheriff who looked tired as she looked around. Harry looked up from his book to give a shy smile at Mackenzie Hunt. The short-haired blonde gave him a smile back before her face went serious.

 “Razi, where is our newest member of Havenfall?” she asked and Prim blinked, looking to JD who scowled in annoyance.

 Why did they have a cop looking for them?

 “Jordan Davies,” Mackenzie said, spotting them. She crossed her arms. “I understand you caused some problems in Jersey.” JD scowled and Prim decided to carefully back away.

 She did not need to get involved in that.

-0-

  “You excited for school?” Razi asked Harry a few days later as Prim covered a morning shift while JD promised to cover the evening one.

 “Dunno,” Harry said with a shrug. He played with one of his action figures. “... Auntie Prim says I can do my best.” Razi nodded.

 “Yeah. School’s important kiddo. I bet she’s excited at the idea of you doing good?” Harry nodded, looking surprised at the notion. Razi gave the kid a grin.

 “Good people typically are,” said JD as they came into the alley. Razi raised an eyebrow at them. “What?”

 “I thought you were out until this evening?”

 “Nah, just didn’t want to work this morning. Prim doesn’t mind.” JD pointed out and Razi had to agree. Prim was a hard worker who just wanted to do her best. “So, squirt! You planning any pranks?”

 “Huh?” Harry asked as Prim came up to the bar.

 “Do not corrupt him,” Prim told JD.

 “Come on! Pranks are an essential part of school!” JD complained.

 “High school, not elementary,” Prim responded. JD grinned then.

 “So I can teach him to prank in high school?” Prim propped an arm on the bar counter and gave them a look.

 “No.,” she said simply before ruffling Harry’s hair. “Just do your best love.”

 “Trying to talk like the English Prim?” JD asked sarcastically.

 “I think we have a cute enough English accent here,” Prim responded, smiling at Harry who blushed but hesitantly smiled back.

 “Gah,” JD made a face. “I’m going upstairs until my shift.”

 “Good,” Prim muttered before she went back to work.

 “...she just broke her attitude!” JD said with a grin. Harry gave them a look. “What?”

 “Stop being mean,” Harry said. “Auntie Prim just talks like that around other people. It isn’t bad.”

 “Kid’s got a point,” Razi said. JD just scowled. “Look, I agreed to let you bunk here because of your dad. You cause problems you’re out though. And you know what that means.”

 JD scowled and stomped off, passing by Prim who ignored them. They didn’t say anything.

**_September 2011_ **

 “Have a good day, okay?” Prim said to Harry, leaning down and giving him a kiss on his forehead. “Listen to your teachers, tell me if anyone is mean and do your very best.” Harry nodded but hesitated before he went into the classroom.

 “...Auntie. If I don’t like it…”

 “You can call me,” Prim promised. “Ask a teacher and call me and I promise I will always come and get you.” Harry smiled at her before he entered the classroom, leaving her to watch.

 “The first day always sucks,” a voice said from behind her. She turned to see an older woman smiling behind her. “He your brother?”

 “He’s my cousin. He’s living with me currently.” That was the only information she gave. By the look in the woman’s eyes, she knew who she was now.

 “Ah, you’re the woman, everyone, gossips about.” She said. She offered her hand. “Erin Summers, I moved here recently with my husband.”

 “You have heard of me so quickly?” Prim asked in amusement. Erin shrugged.

 “Luce seems to like her gossip. The mailman is defending you though as are some others. Apparently, you proved yourself with stepping in to take care of your cousin.” Erin said. Prim withheld her sniff. So this impresses them after years of dislike for no true reason?

 Pathetic.

 “Have you considered getting a therapist for Harry?” Erin asked. Prim frowned, looking at her.

 “I must admit I don’t know what you mean.”

 “A therapist for… his past home life,” Erin said slowly. Prim hesitated and looked away.

 “I haven’t.” She admitted. “I… suppose I simply haven’t thought of it.”

 “They can be expensive,” Erin admitted. She hesitated for a second. “How about a companion animal?”

 “I… well, I haven’t seen anything that requires it I suppose,” Prim said. Erin nodded but pulled out a business card to give to her.

 “My husband is a veteran. He has a very nice companion terrier he adores. This is where we got him from if you ever think about getting one for Harry.” Prim nodded, taking the card before Erin left, Prim hesitating a moment before she copied her, heading out to her truck. She had the day off thanks to Razi and had planned to spend the day doing laundry.

When she got home, Prim noticed the letter in the mailbox she had set up in the kitchen right away. She was somewhat surprised, having not expected any mail from the wizarding world that day- her dealings with the goblins were completed and now she was just waiting for them to contact her back about that business with the Malfoy family and what they were being fined- if they were being fined at all.

 Taking the letter out, she was surprised to see it was from a man named Remus Lupin and addressed to her.

 She started a pot of coffee and opened the thick letter.

_Dear Primrose Evans,_

_I remember Lily talking about you a little. Not too much, but she did mention her cousin. She was upset that you never stayed in the contract but understood how hard it is to lose parents._

_I believe I should be upfront about why I am not allowed to be in contact with Harry and why I am not allowed to leave the country. I am a werewolf and as such there are many restrictions on me. I understand if you do not wish for me to keep in contact, but I have sent pictures with this letter for you to give to Harry._

_-Remus Lupin_

 Prim sniffed.

 “Like hell, I’d hate someone just because of a condition they have,” she muttered to herself. She looked at the various pictures within the letter, seeing many of Lily and a dark-skinned man she assumed was James, though just as many as a younger looking version of the man with three other boys. The pictures were all moving, surprising her, but she just sighed.

 “Magic,” she muttered, looking at some of the photos and frowning. What were they wearing… it looked like traditional Indian garb but… “Google time.” she decided, grabbing her phone and looking up what the clothing styles were called.

 It was an interesting way to spend her morning.

-0-

 “We’re gonna have to figure out how to explain the moving photos,” Grace said, looking at the various photos Prim had set up around the living room. Harry was staring at one where his parents were waving at him and holding the baby version of himself.

 “Oh, apparently they can hear you and they’ll freeze if you ask,” Prim responded. “Expecting a lot of company?”

 “Nah, but Harry might get some friends.” Harry shrugged at that. “How was school anyway?”

 “People stared.” was his only response. Prim and Grace traded looks and Prim thought about the card in her pocket the rest of the evening.

**_Third Week of September 2011_ **

 “I’m going to admit I have no idea what that means,” said Prim as she studied the English worksheet Harry had on the bar counter. “Razi, do you know what this means?” Razi looked at it but then gave her a very confused look.

 “I have no idea.”

 “Aren’t adults supposed to know this?” Harry asked in confusion.

 “I remember nothing of my grade three English class at all,” Prim replied. Harry made a face. “It is weird they expect you to know… this.” JD looked over at it then from where they were washing dishes, forced into the bowling alley shirt.

 “You’re learning onomatopoeia?” JD asked. “That's when the word is associated with the sound it makes. Like, tick-tock or cuckoo.” They noticed the looks then. “What? I know stuff!”

 “How are you so good at English?” Prim asked while Razi just chuckled at their face.

 “It’s not that hard,” JD muttered.

 “What next will we discover about you? Perhaps you know random flower meanings?” Prim asked. JD simply stared at her in silence. “You’re lying.”

 “I don’t know meanings but I know flowers like the gladiolus flower. Kinda looks like a sword.” JD said. Prim threw her hands up.

 “I’m leaving to a place that makes sense. Though if you help Harry with homework I will bake you a batch of cookies.”

 “Sold.” JD agreed.

**_October 2011_ **

 “Do you fancy the place up for Halloween?” JD asked Razi, who was doing some accounting work.

 “Usually just a pumpkin or the such, why?” Razi asked. JD grinned. “Nothing to tacky.”

 “This is basically a disco bowling alley. Tacky is all it is.” JD shot back, as Prim walked into the alley, dressed in her normal work clothing along with a grey coat and white toque with a pompom on top. “Sup Prim?” JD called out. The relationship between the two had cooled down after JD started helping Harry with his homework almost daily at the alley. Prim was excellent with math, Razi was pretty knowledgeable about social studies and history while JD rocked at the English and art part. Harry was doing very well, something all of them were pleased with.

 “Not much,” Prim responded. She removed her coat and hat, placing them behind the bar. “What is the plan for today?”

 “No parties were booked so it's just another day,” Razi replied. “JD was talking about Halloween decorations but I know you were planning on taking the day off…”

 “Oh yeah! What's Harry going to go as?” JD asked with a grin. Prim hesitated. “What? Doesn't he have an idea?”

 “No… it is… Harry truly only recently learned that Halloween was the day his parents were murdered. He's not really up to dressing up.” Prim admitted. JD swore under their breath while Razi hissed.

 “His relatives never said?” Razi asked. Prim dropped her prim and proper act to make a face. JD felt very unfavorable to the unknown relatives at that. “Is he doing okay?”

 “As well as he can,” Prim responded. “We’re going to light a candle and look through some of the photos we got from an old family friend. Have a little candy I suppose but… we’re not celebrating.” She gave a smile that looked a little too brittle before heading to the back stockroom, not wishing to be more social at that moment.

 “Who the fuck were his relatives?” JD demanded in anger. Razi scowled.

 “They were abusive and got tossed into jail. Their own kid they had was put into the system I heard- his aunt was considered unsuitable.” Razi seemed satisfied by something and JD squinted at him.

 “What did you do?” Razi just smirked. “No fair, not telling me.” Razi opened his mouth but Prim came out then, carrying a list.

 “We’re missing a few parts of the shipment.” She said. Razi sighed as he took the list and JD pouted, knowing they wouldn't get an answer from him for a while.

**_Last Week of October 2011_ **

 Prim ran into the school, dressed in her uniform but without her normal jacket or any of her normal behavior.

 “Where's Harry?” She asked the secretary at the front, looking terrified. Said secretary pointed at a room off to the side, looking sympathetic as Prim ran to the room, opening it to find Harry on a small bed, passed out. The school counselor was there along with a man in a white lab coat and red sunglasses. “Harry?”

 “Are you Primrose Evans?” asked the man. Prim blinked and quickly wiped her eyes before taking a breath and turning to him.

 “Yes, I am. How do you do?” She asked politely. The man nodded.

 “Well, thank you.” Prim looked at Harry again in fear and the man continued. “I'm Dr. Escalona. They called me in when he passed out.” Left out was the fact there was no nurse given it was a small school and most of the time it was a simple band-aid needed or they could call the hospital.

 “Thank you,” Prim said. “Is he okay?”

 “He's doing alright. From what I understand a few of the students accidentally caused a panic attack. The teacher did not handle it properly and it lead to Harry passing out.” Dr. Escalona said. Prim’s hands clenched as the councilor spoke up next.

 “We already informed the teacher of what went wrong and the boys… were punished.” She looked uncomfortable as she spoke. “They thought it funny.”

 “He's being bullied?” Prim demanded, eyes wide. She hadn't known that.

 “It's the typical boy thing-”

 “No, it isn't!” Said, Prim. “This isn't a typical thing. It's gross and abusive for kids to treat other kids like crap! Saying boys will be boys is just enabling the problem!” The counselor scowled but the doctor spoke up then.

 “I agree with Miss Evans. I've seen too many cases of bullying being brushed off like this. One lead to the bullying becoming deadly. It's not typical.” He said firmly. The counselor scowled while another voice spoke.

 “I agree.” An older man came into the room, dressed in a suit.

 “Mr. Jameson!” Said the counselor. Prim recognized him as the principal.

 “Mrs. Galloway, I was informed various cases of bullying are going unreported thanks to you. I will be looking into those cases myself now.” The man said. The counselor went red but Prim didn't take the moment to bask in it as Harry began to stir.

 “Harry! Sweetie?” She asked, going over to kneel down by his cot. He woke up sluggishly, blinking.

 “... Mama?” He muttered, starting Prim slightly as the doctor reached out to pull her away gently. She stood up and let him check Harry over, the ou blinking in confusion.

 “He's alright. No concussion or anything.” Dr. Escalona said. His glasses have been pushed up and Prim noticed they were red as she looked at him. Maybe he had contacts in?

 “Thank you.” Said Prim. She moved to sit in the cot, hugging Harry. “Oh, sweetie. When I got the call I panicked! I was so worried for you.”

 “... thought I was tougher.” Harry muttered. “Uncle Vernon-”

 “Uncle Vernon was a snake and a liar Harry,” Prim said firmly.

 “But the other kids-”

 “Were wrong. They're nothing but bullies Harry.” Prim promised.

 “She's right.” The doctor said, crouching down to look Harry in the face. “Those kids are wrong. Being tough isn't about keeping quiet when you're being targeted. It's about being able to say: this isn't right. It's about knowing when you need help.” Harry looked down, not wanting to look the doctor in the face.

 “Thank you, Dr. Escalona.” Said Prim with a smile. Harry piped up after, a little softer.

 “Yeah thank you, Dr. Es… Es…” he frowned and the doctor chuckled.

 “You can call me Dr. Diego.” He said the Harry, standing up.

 After a few more minutes of discussion, Diego grabbed Prim’s elbow softly when she was about to leave with Harry.

 “Miss Evans? Can we chat for a moment?” He asked. Prim placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder.

 “If we’re discussing Harry- Harry would you like to stay here and listen?” Prim asked. Harry shrugged, looking at his feet. Prim looked at Diego and waited. He took it in stride.

 “From the reports of the teacher Harry has had minor panic attacks before- not that she recognized them until now. Is he… I'm new in town so I'm relying on second-hand knowledge but is he going to therapy for what his… former guardians did?” Diego asked. Prim hesitated.

 “No. We couldn't afford the specialized care.” She admitted. Even with the money she got, there wouldn't be enough for Harry to gain the help he needed. Diego frowned.

 “I see.” He said softly. “... have you considered a companion animal like a dog?” Harry flinched at that.

 “Aunt Marge’s dogs were mean.” He said softly and Prim squeezed his shoulder.

 “I… believe we may have some thinking to do.” She said to Diego who nodded his head.

 “May I have your address? I would like to do a check up on him tonight.”

 “Don't you have work?” Harry suddenly asked Prim, looking shocked. “Ma- Auntie Prim, you can't-”

 “Razi gave me the rest of the day off paid. He's worried about you, too, love.” Prim replied, smoothing back Harry’s hair. “Tomorrow you're coming with me and he'll probably mother hen you while JD hovers. Or offers to teach you pranks.”

 “Razi?” Diego asked. “Oh, I should have recognized the shirt.”

 “You know Razi?” Prim asked.

 “He's an old friend,” Diego replied. “Address?” He requested and Prim gave him it, leading Harry out to the truck. He fell asleep on the way home, exhausted from his panic attack and his day. She ended up carrying him up to his room- painted green with a stenciled forest covering the walls after he admitted to liking nature.

 She went back downstairs to find the card she had been given on his first day of school. She had some people to call.

**_October 30, 2011_ **

 Harry sat in the truck, holding onto his seat belt tightly. He was terrified and it showed as Prim drove them to the small farm. Communicating with the goblins had them sending her a little extra to get a permit and even the address of a magical animal farm… which turned out to be the place she was given anyway much to her amusement.

 “You don't have to pick a dog Hary,” Prim promised him, looking at him through the rearview mirror. “There's cats and owls and other animals.” Owls were still strange pets to her but if he wanted one…

 “Yeah, Harry! It's gonna be great!” Grace said with a grin, turning around to smile at him. Prim only wished it wasn't happening the day before Halloween. But maybe it would take his mind off of everything.

 Parking in front of the farm, Prim was helping Harry get out of the truck when a large black puppy came out of nowhere to jump on Harry and begin licking his face.

 “Harry!” Prim shouted as a young woman came barreling from around the side of the farm.

 “Crap! I'm sorry Miss-” the woman began but delighted laughter stopped her. Harry was laughing and giggling as the dog licked his face. He seemed so happy.

 “Guess we’re getting a dog after all,” Grace said smiling.

 -0-

 “So you don't know what type he is?” Prim asked in curiosity. The owner of the farm- a woman named Elizabeth Scamander- shook her head.

 “Unfortunately no. My grandfather was an avid magizoologist with many ideas and thoughts but he never wrote about this type of dog.” She replied. “He's a hybrid with a husky but we don't know what the magical part of him is- other then he sets things on fire and can teleport.”

 “... how often does he set things on fire?” Prim asked.

 “Not too much anymore. Do you have a fireplace?”

 “No… though we have had bonfires in our backyard before.” Said Prim.

 “Maybe set one up so he can have fun.” Elizabeth pushed a pile of paperwork forward and Prim began signing it. “What will ya name him a kid?”

 “Spot! Like how Hades named Cerberus in his myth!” Said Harry happily and Prim shared a grin with Grace. That was too cute.

**_Second Week of November 2011_ **

 “Good afternoon Diego,” Prim said with a nod as the doctor came into the alley. He always came in every day for a drink. Prim had been a little weirded out at first but she figured it was probably just so he could catch up with Razi. The two seemed very close.

 After a week of calling him Dr. Escalona, she had finally been told to call him Diego, something she took to with dignity.

 “Auntie Prim!” Harry shouted, suddenly running into the alley. Grace walked in after him, having gotten Mike to drive the two to the alley after school. “I got an A!”

 “What?” Prim shouted in glee, dropping down to hug Harry who hugged right back. “On your science test? That's wonderful sweetie!!” She took the test and grinned at it, feeling incredibly proud as Harry went to the bar to thank Razi for his help with homework.

 “Proud of you kid,” Razi laughed. “How about some ice cream to celebrate?” Harry turned to call out to Prim, excitement in his voice.

 “Mama! Can I?” Prim nearly froze but instead, she pressed on.

 “Of course!” She grinned wildly and walked up to him, laying a kiss on his forehead as Grace grinned at the door.

 “Can I get some to Prim?” Prim waved a hand and Grace went off to get some ice cream.

 No one mentioned the Mama thing. They all just traded quiet smiles and continued with their work, Diego getting his usual drink.

 “And me and Spot found a frog!” Harry said excitedly to JD who was also at the bar, dressed in uniform but said uniform was covered in buttons. “It was sleeping so we didn't dig it up but it was so cool! How many animals live in the forest?”

 “Probably mostly squirrels and rabbits. Maybe a deer or two.” Said JD. They were smiling though. Harry had that way about himself you just had to smile around him sometimes.

 Mackenzie Hunt came in then, looking annoyed. “Davies!”

 “Oh shit, it's the fuzz!” JD said jokingly. Prim gave them a nasty look.

 “Don't swear around my kid please.”

 “Why do I have three different complaints about someone spray painting ‘we like to gossip about kids’ on their garage doors?” Mackenzie demanded.

 “Dunno, guess they were gossiping about a kid or something.” Prim blinked, looking at JD surprised as the punk refused to look at her or Harry who looks mostly ignorant, to busy staring at Mackenzie.

 “You arrested my uncle.” He said in an awed tone. Prim had to hold back her unlady like short while Grace just cackled. While Mackenzie had arrested Vernon Dursley a few months back and while she had been around the alley- mostly to yell at JD, Harry hadn't really seen her much as he was often in the office doing homework or sleeping. It was the first time he had seen her since that day, and he looked awestruck.

 Mackenzie coughed a little, looking embarrassed but pleased.

 “Of course I did kid, he deserved it.” She said to Harry and the boy smiled wide.

 “Do you often arrest people like him?” Harry asked. “It was so cool seeing you do your job!! I've never seen any of the cops arrest Vernon before!”

 “What do you mean?” Mackenzie asked in worry. Harry continued, blissfully unaware of the atmosphere around him.

 “Uncle Vernon got visited some by cops. But they all seemed to think he was in the right? I dunno. He gave some money and mentioned he was glad that they could be sent to him all the time?” Harry shrugged and Prim could swear Mackenzie let loose a growl at that, but it had to be some sort of wishful thinking. After all, she wanted to growl some to!

 “I wish I had connections to the British police service.” Mackenzie said in an angry voice before she plastered on a smile and answered a previous question. “Luckily, we don't get his type of person a lot here. We mostly have people like Davies.” That got her attention back to JD. The punk just grinned.

 “They deserved it, I would say, if I had, in any way at all, done the deed,” they said in a chipper voice. Mackenzie just sighed.

 “You know technically it can be a felony charge.” Mackenzie said. JD snorted.

 “If it causes extreme damage to valuable property yes.” They smirked and Mackenzie sighed again.

 “Why am I not surprised you know that. I suppose if I asked you would claim to have no spray paint cans anywhere?” She asked Razi.

 “Spray paint is bad for the environment.” He responded. Mackenzie shook her head.

 “Alright. I'll say it was unknown. Don't do it again.” She told JD who looked offended.

 “How dare you accuse me! I'm hurt Mackenzie!”

 “Wounded even?” Grace asked then and Prim sighed.

 “Enough with the references you two.” She said as JD exclaimed,

 “Hurt Mackenzie!”

 “I'm banning that movie.”

 “But I like it!” Harry said, looking up with big puppy eyes and Prim groaned.

 “Very well then, you may continue watching it.”

 “Thanks, Mama!” Harry said with a grin only to freeze, eyes widening. Prim didn't let him think on it, instead kissing his forehead and smiling.

 “Welcome sweetie.”

**_December 2011_ **

 Harry frowned as he propped his chin onto his hands, staring at the bar counter top.

 “Ah, I know that look,” Diego said from beside Harry. The doctor didn't often chat with Harry but he did at times help him with homework when it was science related or would offer advice at other times. “What's wrong?”

 “I don't know what to make Mama and Auntie Grace for Christmas,” Harry admitted. He had taken to calling Prim Mama like nothing else. He adored her and she adored him. Everyone saw it.

“That is a dilemma.” Said Razi from his place behind the counter. Harry looked up at Razi with big eyes and felt his cheeks flush a little as Razi hummed. “What does your mama like?”

 Harry did not mention her late-night binge watching of those documentaries she liked. She never really talked about it and got really red when Grace teased her- nice teasing. The fun kind everyone likes. Harry liked nice teasing. “She likes boots. And coffee. And cooking.” Harry said. “Auntie Grace likes cute stuff.”

 “How about a mug then?” Razi asked. “You could paint a coffee mug here and hide it from your mama and… make a really cute one for your aunt?” Harry brightened up.

 “Yeah!!! That would be great!!!” He grinned widely at Razi, so happy he was willing to give ideas to him. Razi was so cool!! Razi gave him a wink and Harry felt his cheeks warm up a little much to his confusion.

 Why would he be blushing?

-0-

 The great Christmas Project, as Harry called it, was only so much of a secret that Prim didn't know what it was. She knew Harry was doing something in the office for her and Grace but not what.

 She let him have his fun, giggling with Grace about it.

 “He's doing well,” Mackenzie said to Prim with a smile. “You've been great for him.”

 “I try,” Prim responded. Mackenzie clapped her on her shoulder.

 “Well, you're succeeding.” She told her honestly. “Has he asked about any more police stuff?”

 “Somewhat. He heard about police dogs and is obsessed. He loves animals now that he has Spot.”

 “Did he name the dog?” Mackenzie asked curiously as Prim handed her a water. Mackenzie was apparently friends with Diego and Razi and had shown up near the bowling alley closing for some get together they had planned. Prim was happy to chat while JD cleaned the arcade area. Much to their displeasure and Prim’s glee.

 “Yes, he did. Apparently- and I'm betting Grace found this out given it sounds like something you'd discover on Tumblr- Hades in the Greek myth named Cerberus the Greek equivalent of Spot. So Harry thinks it's funny to name Spot… Spot.”

 “It is kinda funny,” said Mackenzie with a grin. Prim chuckled and nodded her agreement as Harry came out of the office with a small bit of paint on his nose. She had no idea how it ended up there.

 “Hi Sheriff! Hi Dr. Diego!” Harry said happily. “Mama! Razi said you guys are having a Christmas party!” He looked extremely excited and Prim had to raise an eyebrow at the shine in his eyes as he looked at Razi. She withheld her chuckle.

 Oh, that was too good.

 “We are! It's next week, honey, and you're completely invited.” Prim told her son with a smile.

 “Awesome!” Harry cheered. “Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia always locked me in my cupboard when they had parties.” Prim kept her smile on her face even as she mentally grumbled that there went her happy mood.

 She heard a crack and looked up to see Diego dropping his glass- completely shattered. She thought she heard a loud bang as well, but when she turned her head, JD hadn’t dropped the bowling ball they were carrying. She then focused on Diego.

 “Are you alright?” she asked.

 “I’m fine,” Diego said, giving her a grin that looked more like a grimace. “Razi, can I…”

 “First aid kit is here, you can use my office,” Razi said, pulling out a case that Diego took with a smile.

 “It looks like you bled a fair amount though,” Prim couldn’t help her protest, seeing the red liquid on the shattered glass.

 “Was I bad?” a very soft voice said and Prim turned her attention to her son to reassure him as Razi cleaned up. He purposely did not mention the few glasses he’d dropped in his anger himself.

-0-

  The party was just Razi, JD, Prim, Grace, Harry, and Diego- the doctor having been roped into it somehow by Razi or JD.

 It was simple and sweet, and Prim had to take a picture, something everyone else agreed to do.

 The said picture was soaked in a special solution to move. On repeat, Prim kissed Harry’s cheek while JD laughed at Razi and Diego smiled. Grace was laughing herself, head thrown back.

 It was perfect. Made even more perfect when Harry gave her and Grace their gifts. Prim got a coffee mug claiming her the best mom ever- hand painted, while Grace got a coffee mug with a cat hand painted on it.

 Another picture went up, of the two holding their mugs and kissing Harry’s cheeks.

**_January 2012_ **

 Prim pulled her coat tighter around herself, shivering slightly in the cold air. New York was freezing but it was where the central hub for Gringotts was in the USA and where you could speak directly with a manager from a different country. Which was what she needed to do.

 Harry held her hand as they walked the streets, looking around in awe at the skyscrapers and Prim wanted to do the same but she had to focus on finding the entrance to the bank. It was in Central Park they said…

 Harry tripped and she had to stop, mentally berating herself.

 “Am I going to fast?” She asked him. Harry looked embarrassed but she just picked him up. He was still a little underweight- even after months spent with her. “Now, what statue are we looking for again?” She asked Harry. The boy grinned.

 “Alice in Wonderland!” He said in a very happy tone. He loved that movie.

 “Excellent now…” she frowned, wondering where the statue was when a voice spoke up.

 “It's about three minutes that way.” They turned to see a dark haired woman in a fashionable black coat and a very nice hat. She smiled. “Didn't mean to interrupt or eavesdrop…”

 “Ah, thank you,” Prim said. “We probably would have been searching all over.” She nodded at the woman. “I'm Primrose and this is my son, Harry.”

 “Vanessa.” The woman said, smiling. “Having a tour of statues?”

 “Yeah!” Harry said. “It's so cool!!!” The woman laughed and waved goodbye as she walked, Prim heading over to the statue as well. Once there, she tapped the plate three times and spoke out loud.

 “I'm a muggle but my son is a wizard. I would like to see the bank.” With that, the statue came to life and Alice nodded before the front opened up and she and Harry walked down the stairs that lead deep into the ground.

 “I love magic,” Harry said with a grin. Prim gave her own smile as they entered the bustling bank of Gringotts USA New York.

-0-

 “Pleasure to see you again Brightaxe.” She said politely to the goblin who grinned at her.

 “You as well Miss Evans.” He nodded to Harry. “And you heir Black.” He had met them when he had gone to the house to confirm it was, in fact, Harry that Prim was in charge of and not anyone else. He had seemed to take a liking to them.

 “So it is official then?” Prim asked. “He's been claimed as heir Black and there is trouble brewing for the Malfoy family?” It had taken months for the paperwork to be put together and the proper procedure put through. Prim was eager to learn what exactly had happened.

 Brightaxe smirked before slipping her a newspaper.

 “Malfoy Family Stealing From The Boy-Who-Lived!” The title read. It was by a woman named Rita Skeeter and it spoke of how it had been discovered that the Malfoy claims of being the inheritors of the Black family name were wrong. Not only had they taken a Wizengamot seat but had also claimed the Board seat for Hogwarts from the Black family. Skeeter seemed pleased to tear them apart.

 “All laws passed are currently suspended and all Board decisions have as well been suspended until you find a new regent Miss Evans,” Brightaxe said. “I believe Dumbledore offered?” Prim frowned.

 She didn't mind Dumbledore but she was leery of placing an old man such as himself into that sort of position. Call her an idealist or millennial or what you wished but she firmly believed that anyone above a certain age had no rights playing politics. Most of them were too stuck in their beliefs and wished to keep the status quo.

“What sort of laws are there about who can hold the seats?” Asked Prim.

 “That they are magical humans shaped beings,” Brightaxe replied. Prim grinned then.

 “So would a werewolf be allowed?” Brightaxe’s grin copied hers.

 “Indeed.”

 Prim left the bank with a smirk on her face and knowing that she was going to be able to meet Remus soon enough.

 Of course, she had a promise to make first and the two went to the Central Park Zoo, Harry laughing as he looked at all the animals. It was there they met Vanessa again.

 “Oh! Hello!” Prim said in surprise. Vanessa looked shocked herself but covered it with a laugh.

 “Nice to see you again,” Vanessa said to the two. She was adjusting her coat a little, her hat slightly askew, but Prim figured it had probably been a strong wind. “Have you seen the red pandas? They’re quite cute.”

 “No! Mama, I wanna see them!” Harry said, grabbing onto her arm and prim chuckled.

 “Alright, let’s go find them,” she said to Harry. Vanessa offered to help, and the three spent a nice day together, ending with Harry begging to have a photo taken to remember the day, Vanessa going pink in shock. Prim had a nice giggle over that but took the photo.

 A few days later, Razi asked her if she’d seen anything odd at the zoo.

 “No, nothing of note anyhow. Some people dressed odd but it is New York.” Prim replied. “Why?”

 “A murder happened that day. Some guy ended up getting stabbed with a wooden stake. I’m glad you’re alright.” Razi said, his face a bit strange. But then…

 “A wooden stake?” Prim asked. “That’s… strange. I’ve never heard of anything like that before, other than in vampire fiction.”

 “Yeah. It is strange.” Razi said, his voice off but it was a very weird story after all.

**_Second Week of January 2012_ **

 Prim opened the door to reveal a wizard dressed in somewhat shabby robes.

 “Hello!” She said cheerfully. “You must be Remus! Please do come in!” He came in with a smile and took her hand, holding it warmly.

 “I can't thank you enough.” He said to her. “You… you've done so much for me already.”

 “I gave you a job Remus. That's about it.” Prim said with a chuckle. “How is it going?”

 “We officially start tomorrow on casting new votes on various laws which is why I'm here today.” A pained look was in Remus’s eyes and Prim frowned at it.

 “Won't you…”

 “No. It was a unanimous vote to keep werewolves from leaving Britain. It might be suspended now but it won't be for long.” Remus looked exhausted and bitter as he stood in the doorway. Prim felt horrible for the poor man as she stood there.

 “Well then.” She said. “You better come and hug Harry and spend the evening with him.” She lead him to the kitchen where Harry was doing his math homework, his tongue poking out of his mouth. Remus took in a shuddering breath and Harry heard it, turning around in his chair to look. “Sweetie, this is Remus. He was a friend of your parents.”

 “The one who sent us the pictures?” Harry asked.

 “Yeah, yeah I am.” Remus agreed, slowly walking over to the table to sit down next to him. Prim crept out of the kitchen, a grin on her face.

 She'd leave them alone for a bit.

**_March 2012_ **

 “I swear if there is another incident of bullying-!” Prim shouted at the counselor who scowled while Mr. Jameson also looked furious.

 “There won’t be. Ms. Galloway? You’re fired.” he said. The counselor looked shocked and horrified while Prim took Harry with her out of the office, shooting angry looks at the three boys who had cornered her son and nearly broke his arm. Their parents all looked ashamed as Prim stood in front of them.

 “I do not know why you dislike me. I do not know why I am hated in this town, but for you to spread this hate to your children who take it out on my SON…” Prim shook her head and stormed off.

 She drove back to the alley as she had to work and couldn’t keep letting Razi give her paid time off. As well, she was aware that Razi tended to make Harry smile a lot- something she did tease him about a little.

 Harry was quiet when they entered, heading for the couch to curl up with a book.

 “The only good thing that happened is that counselor got fired,” Prim said to herself.

 “Good,” JD said as they walked up to her. They weren’t wearing the shirt- Razi got tired of the pins and random rips said shirt had- and instead had on their jacket and tank top. “Bully is bullshit.”

 “Without using the same profanity, I have to agree,” Prim said. She sighed. “It was hard enough when I was in school. I know how nasty kids can be.”

 “You were bullied?” JD asked in surprise. Prim nodded.

 “Yes. Primrose is a strange name after all. It’s how the prim and proper taunt started.” JD frowned.

 “Prim and proper taunt?” they asked and Prim frowned. Didn’t…

“I forgot you’ve only been here for not even a year…” she trailed off, blinking in confusion before she pressed on. “It was a taunt started in elementary and well… continued. Eventually, I got back by acting prim and proper in general and thus, the taunt lost its power over me.”

 “...No, it didn’t.” JD said, looking at her. Prim just gave them a look and they sighed. “...Sorry,” they muttered under their breath.

 “...Did you just apologize?” she asked. JD scowled.

 “Bullying is bullshit and gross,” they said. “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories when I taunt you over your attitude.”

 “You haven’t done so for a few months.” Prim pointed out. JD shrugged.

 “I got used to it I guess.” Prim hummed before she gave a soft smile at JD.

 “You didn’t mean to bully me- sure maybe you were mean in the beginning because you were lashing out, but you never crossed a line,” Prim said. “...I also never thought I’d ever hear you say sorry.”

 “Well, this is the only time you’ll ever hear it.” JD snorted. They went off to work and Prim chuckled as she went to do some work herself.

 That was nice.

**_July 2012_ **

 Prim frowned at the book, flipping through it in confusion. What was… that didn’t… what?

 “Having trouble?” asked an accented voice. She looked to the side to see an older Indian woman dressed in colorful clothing and jewelry, a red dot in the middle of her forehead.

 “A little I must admit,” Prim said, feeling slightly embarrassed. “Do you perchance own this store?” Prim asked, gesturing to the small Indian shop she was in. The woman nodded.

 “Yes, I do. What brings you here?” the woman asked.

 “I have recently taken charge of a relative whose father was from India. I am… not sure which part though I know in his wedding photos his wife, my cousin, was dressed in a sari though not…” Prim coughed and changed the subject, realizing she had been rambling. “I wished to learn to make some traditional foods the proper way from him for his birthday at the end of this month, hence why I am here.”

 “Well then,” the woman said, sounding pleased. “Do you need help? Or a few lessons? I was going to make some pani puri for my own supper tonight. I can teach you if you wish?”

 “Thank you,” Prim said honestly. “Thank you so much.” The woman waved her hand in amusement and directed her to some  She introduced herself as Chetas and Prim introduced herself as well, the two chatting together as Prim gathered the food and pans she would need.

 “Harry… do you know how is spelt?” Chetas asked. Prim nodded her head in the positive.

 “We managed to recover his birth certificate and it is spelled H-A-R-I, though typically he spells it the English way. From what I understand his parents wished to give him an Indian name but as well wished for him to have an English name as to prevent harassment.” Prim said. Chetas snorted.

 “Harassment? If people teach their children better than none there will be.” Prim nodded her agreement to that. “Come then, I teach you and you come back to find present here for child.”

 “He likes to read,” Prim said thoughtfully. She had noticed some Indian stories written in English. As well there were some books dedicated to teaching Sanskrit she thought he might like.

 “Excellent, but lesson first,” Chetas said and Prim agreed, following the woman to the back of the shop where a kitchen was, the shop also being a place to sell food.

 It would be a very fun lesson for both of them.

**_Second Week of July, 2012_ **

 Chetas showed up in Havenfall one day with a cookbook under her arm. Prim was rather surprised to see the Indian woman come into the bowling alley.

 “Chetas, hello!” she said in surprise.

 “Miss Evans,” said the older woman. She offered the cookbook. “For you. Found it in back of closet.” Prim blinked, taking the book from the woman.

 “Thank you, ma’am, let me grab my purse to-”

 “It is gift. None of my grandchildren wish to learn.” Chetas looked annoyed at that and Prim chuckled. “Where is young Hari?”

 “He’s with my sister right now- she has the day off,” Prim explained. Chetas nodded before she smirked at something. Prim looked over her shoulder just to see Razi and JD. “Oh! Sorry Razi! This is the woman I was talking about, the one teaching me to cook food for Harry’s birthday.”

 “Pleased to meet you,” Razi said, bowing his head. “You can put the book in my office if you want to hide it.”

 “Thanks, Razi!” Prim said, going off to do so. She took a few minutes to find a good hiding spot before she came out to find Chetas leaving with a wave. She waved back with a smile, unaware of the looks being traded by JD and Razi.

**_July 31, 2012_ **

 “Happy birthday Harry!” Prim cheered as she put the cake in front of Harry. He grinned widely as everyone around him all sang. It was happening in the bowling alley, and Harry was just happy to have everyone around.

 It was just him, Prim, Grace, Razi and JD- with a quick appearance by Mackenzie when she came in to yell at JD and offer her congratulations- but it was the best party he ever had!

 A camera set up took their picture as he blew out his candles.

 A year ago, a funeral was held on August first for a family that lost a grandmother, but a full year later, a birthday was held to mark a son that had gained a family.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry is eight when he ends up with Prim, so he’s got about three years until Hogwarts, so I’m just doing a chapter for a year. Otherwise I’ll never finish this fic. I know myself.
> 
> Now, because I know I’m going to get complaints: There is no bashing in this story but there is some unfriendliness. Yes, people may say what I have placed here as being bashing, but to me it isn’t, instead it is being unfriendly- that is I am portraying a character in a negative way. Bashing is when you take a character and ONLY give them bad traits or make them ridiculous for no reason. As it is, I can totally see the Malfoy family doing something like I have them doing so here. Why? They openly say that Lucius Malfoy hides illegal items or sells them and there is bribery mentions. It’s not that far out they would do this. Yes, it will have long reaching consequences- this isn’t a vacuum. It’s just they won’t hit until Harry goes to Hogwarts because Prim and Harry live in the USA. They won’t interact with the Malfoy family or the British Wizarding World until then.
> 
> Now tiny bits I thought of for here and want to explain:
> 
> -I adore JD but they state in the game that they hated Havenfall when they first got there. So, I made them a little angry and bitter. And given Prim is very prim and proper, they clashed. As you can see they did make up, but yeah. Not a great beginning.
> 
> -I don’t know who came up with the idea that Harry’s name on his birth certificate is Hari but I used it here. Yes, he uses the English spelling mostly due to the Dursley family and because he never knew until he saw his certificate. So kudos to whoever did it.
> 
> -Prim gets 150 galleons a month for Harry which is about 1,500 in USD. Yes, lots of money but that is for Harry and while Prim does use some for groceries for everyone it can go fast. The lawyer was given to her for free because the goblins make bank on the money from the Harry Potter name and she was willing to let them keep 60% of the settlement.
> 
> -I'm like 90% certain it's mentioned in some route that Diego hasn't been in Havenfall long. So I took creative license and made it so he just shows up here. As well- not sure how American schools do it but we didn't have a nurse at my school because we were a small town so I just went: here! Also it gives me an excuse to introduce him earlier!


	4. Chapter 4

**_September 2012_ **

“Please don’t mess up your clothes!” Prim called out to Harry who was rolling around with Spot. “We’re having family photos today!”

“Sorry, Mama!” Harry said, sitting up and rubbing Spot’s head. Prim shook her head and adjusted her hair as she waited for Grace to finish setting up the camera. She ran back with a grin and sat down next to Prim, Harry running over to jump in their laps.

“Alright- ten- nO! SPOT!” Grace shouted as Spot jumped up onto their laps as the Camera began to flash steadily.

Looking at the photos, Prim had to say it was the best family photo she’d seen.

Spot had jumped on them and knocked Grace over so she laid on the couch, the dog licking her face while Harry laughed in glee and Prim covered her mouth, eyes alight with humor.

It was perfect and one she did not put into the special potion to make it move.

It was perfect as it is.

**_October 2012_ **

“I wanna dress up for Halloween this year,” Harry said to Prim as she worked on some bank statements from Gringotts. She’d encouraged the goblins to buy shares in the muggle world and it was making good money.

“... You sure kiddo?” Prim asked, pushing her glasses up. 

“Yeah. I… is it bad that while I was happy to mourn them last year it’s…” Harry hesitated, trying to find the right word.

“Not as strong of an emotion?” Prim asked. Harry shrugged. “...Harry, you don’t need to mourn your parents as… people…” Prim frowned. That sounded weird. “That sounded strange.”

“A little,” Harry admitted. Prim hummed. “I mean, I liked our memorial last year but I don’t… want to do it this year? I wanna… dress up. Have fun… I miss them but…”

“You miss the idea of parents more than the actual parents,” said Prim. Harry looked surprised at her. “What? In the wise words of JD, I know stuff.”

“Is it wrong?” 

“What?! No!” Prim said, shaking her head. “You didn’t know them. Not really anyway. Maybe if you were older I would wonder what sort of parents they were you don’t mourn them but… you don’t need to mourn them more than you have honey. No one gets to tell you when to move on, and no one gets to tell you that you need to keep mourning.” 

“...Thanks.” Harry said softly and Prim beckoned him closer to kiss his forehead. 

“So what do you want to be for Halloween?”

“I dunno. I want Spot to come with me though.” Prim chuckled and nodded. “Hmm, maybe a ringmaster and Spot can be a wolf?”

“Sure honey, we’ll figure something out.”

-0-

“He’s a strong kid,” Razi said as Prim cleaned the floor. She had no idea how Razi became her go-to for family talk after a year, but she didn’t mind. She liked the man- he was kind and sweet. “So, ringmaster costume?”

“There should be something in Indianapolis or at the very least something I can cobble together at the thrift store.” Prim shrugged.

“Well, this might work out well. I was thinking of creating formal Fridays…”

“Wait, what?” JD said, coming from the stockroom where they totally had not been paying attention.

“Yeah, like everyone dresses up in a nice formal dress.”

“...We work at a bowling alley,” said JD. Prim scrunched her nose.

“I have to agree. Imagine having to handle all of the customers in a dress.” Prim made a face.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Razi said grinning. “It’ll be more interesting than just hanging around all day like we all do half the time.” Prim had to wonder how the hell the bowling alley stayed open some days, given it was true that other then the bar there wasn’t much reason to go to the alley.

“Alright, however, I absolutely refuse to wear makeup for work like this,” Prim said. Make-up was really itchy.

“Deal.”

“Ugh, I hate suits.” JD groaned.

“Then wear a dress,” Razi replied. JD blinked.

“Huh, I do look good in them… but they’re always so frilly.”

“Only if they’re dresses like those reenactments or the ones some wear for cosplay or such,” said Prim. JD looked confused.

“Wait, they aren’t like that anymore?”

“Very funny,” Razi said dryly while Prim just stared at the two. What the hell was that about?

-0-

Harry was dressed in his ringmaster outfit with a wolf costume on Spot. Grace was dressed as one of those women who rode the horses and did tricks while Prim had been convinced to dress as a trapeze artist. It was Razi who took the photo for them after the family had stopped at the bowling alley to see Razi and JD. JD was dressed as an angel, prompting laughter from Prim.

“If you ever had a halo it was held up by devil horns,” she teased them. They cocked a grin.

“Why Prim, thank you!”

Razi was just wearing a top hat, prompting booing from Grace.

“You need to dress up Razi!” she said, glaring. Razi just smirked.

“I’m fabulous every day of the year. Adding one thing is a costume.” He winked and Harry went pink and scurried away with Spot. Grace withheld her snickers while Razi blinked and then covered his face. “I did not know that.”

“It’s a little adorable,” Prim said with a grin. JD snickered from beside Razi, a big grin on their face. “Please don’t tease Razi in front of Harry or Harry in front of Razi. He thinks we don’t know.”

“Can I tease him when he’s a teen and has a boyfriend or girlfriend or datefriend or whatever?” JD asked with a grin.

“Yes,” Prim said with a snicker. Razi just sighed.

“Okay, it’s a little funny… and I will happily take the place of being Harry’s first crush because again, I am the more fabulous one.” JD looked heavily offended as Prim and Grace left, Harry already outside the door.

Mackenzie was patrolling the town looking for teenage pranksters and gave them a nod.

“Excellent costumes.” 

“Thank you, Sheriff,” Prim said with a grin. The group went door to door, Harry eager to get candy and Grace happy she had an excuse to get candy herself instead of feeling too old.

When they got to the doctor’s door, he winced at seeing Spot, but the dog just wagged his tail, much to his surprise.

“Dogs… usually don’t like me,” he said, petting Spot with a big grin on his face.

“If you want I can bring him around sometime!” Harry offered with a smile and Diego grinned.

“Thank you, Harry, that would be excellent.” 

At the end of the night they did go back to let Spot play with Diego for a while, Harry falling asleep in the truck as Grace pigged out on her candy and Prim stole candy from the both. 

It was a perfect night.

**_November 2012_ **

Prim walked in to hear two people speaking Hindi and grinned.

“ _ Hello!” _ she called out in the same language. She heard two callbacks, and walked into the kitchen to see Chetas and Harry at the table, a delicious smell coming from the stove.

“Mama! Chetas is teaching me!” Harry said in English, grinning.

“He is doing well learning,” Chetas said in English as well.  _ “How are your lessons coming?” _ she asked in Sanskrit.

_ “As well as they can, given I’m older and have a… _ ” Prim frowned.

“Tougher?” Chetas asked, repeating it in both languages.

“Ah yes, that,” Prim said with a nod. “ _ Tougher time learning.” _ Chetas waved her hand, assuring her she was doing well.

The little Indian woman often came to town to teach Harry and help Prim cook. Apparently, her grandchildren rarely visited and she got bored easily. Prim was somewhat surprised the little old granny could move so well and could drive to Havenfall as easily as she did. 

Prim sat in for the rest of the lesson and learned some new dishes for Harry who adored them all. Grace was working that night and she complained about missing out all the next day.

-0-

“Does Chetas celebrate Christmas?” Harry asked Prim who frowned as she made dough for dumplings.

“You know… I don’t know.” Prim replied to Harry. “Probably not though. Why?”

“Her grandkids don’t visit much she says a lot. I thought ‘bout having her over for Christmas might make her smile?” Harry asked. 

“I think that’s a fantastic idea honestly,” Prim said with a grin. “We can ask her next time we see her, yeah?” Harry grinned and nodded as Prim continued the preparations for the evening. If she hadn’t had Harry, she was fairly certain she and Grace would live off of fast food with how often the two were tired after work, but with Harry neither wanted him to become ill or sick because he did not receive the proper nutrition. 

The mailbox lit up and Harry went over to pull out a letter from Remus. With the laws back in place, Remus was forced to only send letters to her again, though half the time it was obvious it was supposed to be Harry receiving the letters. 

“Me or you kiddo?” Prim asked as Harry opened it.

“Me!” Harry said, grinning at the letter and going off to read it as Prim finished the dough. The doorbell rang then. “Mama?”

“I will be getting that young man!” Prim called out. She never wanted Harry to answer the door- feeling it would be too dangerous.

She washed her hands quickly and then went to the door, opening it to find Grace at the door, holding a bunch of bags, which was why she rang the doorbell.

“How did you get here from the store?” Prim asked in confusion, grabbing a few bags.

“I saw her trying to fit them onto her bike, so I gave her a ride,” a voice said. Mackenzie Hunt was coming up the steps, having pulled Grace’s bike out of her trunk.

“Thank you, Sheriff,” Prim said, smiling at the taller woman. “Would you like some coffee as a thank you?” Mackenzie shook her head.

“No, it’s fine.” the woman said. “Have a nice afternoon, alright?” She smiled at Prim who smiled right back before she left. Prim closed the door to find Grace grinning behind her.

“...No.”

“I was only going to say that your old crush seems to be back.” Prim rolled her eyes at her little sister’s comment.

“It’s called I have eyes and am super bi, so I can see she’s hot,” Prim replied to Grace. The younger girl pouted.

“You never date,” Grace said. “You’re twenty years old and I know you think people are attractive, why not?”

“Because the dating pool in this town sucks,” Prim said, following her sister to the kitchen where Grace began putting away groceries and Prim began preparing the rest of supper.

“I dunno- I mean you’re close with the town doctor, Razi, JD, and the sheriff. And they’re all hot.” Grace replied. Prim gave her a look. “What?”

“The town doctor who I speak to as a customer, the sheriff who comes in to yell half the time at JD, my boss, and my coworker?” 

“Well… they’re hot.” Grace shrugged and Prim sighed as Harry looked up from the letter.

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

“Your crush on Razi,” Grace replied with a grin. Harry went brick red.

“It’s not a crush!” he cried out. “Razi is just super cool okay!?”

“Mhmm,” Grace said with a bigger grin. “So that’s why you neaten your clothing when you see him and make sure to always bring back your history homework for help?”

“Mama!” Harry cried out.

“Stop teasing Harry about his crush Grace.”

“It’s not a crush!!”

**_December 2012_ **

“Thanks for letting Chetas come to the party, Harry’s excited,” Prim said to Razi. He waved his hand.

“Chetas is more than welcome given she’s helping Harry connect with his heritage.” 

“She needs to participate in White Elephant though!” JD said, passing them by. Razi shrugged and Prim chuckled.

“I’ll tell her that. Is Diego coming as well?”

“Yeah, so is the sheriff,” Razi replied. 

“What?” Prim asked, tilting her head. 

“She works Christmas this year- so I thought I’d invite her to the party for Christmas cheer.” Razi shrugged.

“...did you just use Christmas cheer unironically?” Prim asked as JD raised their eyebrows and stared at Razi.

“Oh shut up the both of you.”

**_December 20, 2012_ **

The party was rather simple that year, with everyone simply sitting around at the bar and chatting. Prim wore the snowman sweater Grace had bought her, while Grace wore a sweater with a cat wearing a Santa hat on it, while JD pouted about not being able to wear their shirt with a Christmas tree burning on it. 

“It’s not really festive,” Prim said. 

“Festive?!” JD huffed. “Like the sheriff’s plaid is festive?!”

“It’s red and green,” Mackenzie points out. JD rolled their eyes while Grace snickered. Chetas chuckled from her position on the couch and Prim gave her a confused look. They hadn’t been loud, how could she hear that?

“Mama, can you help me sit on a stool?” Harry asked Prim who agreed and went to help him sit on a stool next to Diego who smiled at them.

“Pleasure to see you too.” Harry pouted at Diego who chuckled. “Not liking I had to give you some shots?”

“No,” Harry crossed his arms and glared at Diego who just laughed. Prim laughed and ruffled his hair as Razi handed Diego a drink.

“Think fast!” Chetas suddenly called out.

 They all turned to see Chetas holding a camera, and she took a photo of them all. Prim laughed as both Diego and Mac protested they hadn’t been ready, while JD just laughed at the whole thing.

“Nice one,” Grace laughed. She took the camera and got Chetas to stand in the photo, taking another photo that was somewhat more refined, with everyone aware of it.

At least until it was developed and you saw JD giving the sheriff bunny ears.

**_March 2013_ **

“I DON’T WANNA!” Harry shouted at Prim who scowled.

“Well, I don’t care if you want to or not! You have to go to school and apologize to the teacher-” Prim said firmly, hands on her hips when Harry shouted out,

“I HATE YOU!” he stomped off and hid in the bowling alley bathroom, leaving Prim staring after him. She sat on a stool, thankful that no one was in that day.

JD and Razi traded glances, and then JD shook their head and crept off despite the annoyed look Razi was sending them. The man sighed and then filled a glass with water, placing it down beside Prim.

“Here, have a drink.”

“He hates me,” Prim said softly.

“How many times did you say that to your parents?” Razi asked.

“Once and then they died the next day,” Prim replied. Razi did not answer, to busy staring at the back of her head. “...Mostly joking.” Prim said.

“Well, then you know you didn’t mean it, right? I remember saying that to my parents a few times.” 

“I’m fairly certain JD means it when they say they hate their dad,” Prim said.

“JD’s case is… special.” Razi replied. “I would not base your relationship with Harry on JD’s with their dad. Do you know why he yelled at his teacher?”

“She dislikes me,” Prim responded. Razi made a face. Sure, some of the hate towards the Evans family was gone from what it once had been, but it was still there. “She doesn’t do anything to Harry but she made a comment about me he overheard and…” Prim shrugged.

“And yet you’re making him apologize?” Razi asked.

“I am angry at what she said, but I also understand that Harry yelling at teachers will accomplish nothing. As well, I wish for him to respect teachers. Yes, she does not like me but she has never let it affect how she treats him. If it did, I would let him scream and yell at her, and report it, but as it isn’t- then he needs to respect her.” Prim said. “She has earned his respect by acting like a teacher.”

“So you’re teaching him respect,” Razi stated.

“As well, I find it funny how most people take my attitude and get confused that I never negatively react to them. It’s hilarious.” Prim admitted, smirking as she turned around to sip her water. Razi snorted at that. 

“Trying to teach Harry how to act like you then?”

“More trying to teach him how to mess with people by acting very polite and kind when they are not,” Prim said. “But also trying to teach him that as she has earned this respect, she gets it.”

“Well, I’m sure he’ll understand. Let him cool off a bit and then have another chat.” Razi said. Prim smiled and reached out to pat his arm.

“Thank you, Razi.”

“What I’m here for. Advice and to pay you.”

“You’re good at it.” Prim snickered. Razi rolled his eyes at her and she just laughed.

Luckily, Harry did cool off and they had a long conversation about respect that ended with Harry agreeing to apologize. The teacher was shocked when he did and seemed to treat Prim a little better after that. Prim just smiled when she did.  

It was very satisfying.

**_June 2013_ **

Prim flipped through the channels on the TV, feeling exhausted. She’d agreed to pull a double shift as there had been four birthday parties booked and Razi needed all hands on deck- especially when it turned out one party had glitter decorations. Prim had tried to wash her hair three times but there was still glitter in her hair. 

A documentary about Bigfoot appeared and she grinned, clicking on it. Bad documentaries were her favorite things to watch. As well, it would give her an excuse to avoid sleeping in her room. She still wasn’t used to it.

She was rather absorbed in the documentary when Harry touched her arm.

“Honey?” she asked in surprise. He had red eyes that he rubbed at.

“I had a bad dream,” he said in a soft tone, hanging his head. Prim reached out and pulled him down to sit with her, letting him snuggle into her, holding onto a stuffed stag that Remus had sent him for Christmas.

“Want to watch a terrible documentary?” Prim asked. Harry nodded and the two watched the documentary, giggling at the bad effects until they fell asleep. 

Grace took a photo the next morning, one that would join the many on the walls of the two cuddling on the couch.

**_July 2013_ **

“Happy birthday Harry!” Chetas sang out as she set down a cake that she and Prim had made together. Harry grinned at the group that had shown up. He had a few friends from school, but he typically didn’t hang out with them because he didn’t like how their parents gave Prim weird looks and he hated people being mean to his Mama!

Razi and JD had shown up though, given the amount of time he spent at the bowling alley Harry felt like they were part of his family. Though he did not want to add Razi to the family like that!! It wasn’t a crush!!! It was admiration!

He blew out the candles as everyone cheered around him and his Mama came to kiss his forehead.

He closed his eyes and smiled.

Everything was perfect.

**_September 2013_ **

“I hate picture day,” Harry grumbled as Prim fixed his hair.

“And I hate that your hair won’t stay flat,” Prim replied. 

“It’s the Potter curse Uncle Remus says,” Harry smirked at his mother who just stuck her tongue out at him. 

“Maybe growing it out will fix it,” Prim said. Harry immediately perked up.

“Can I put it in a ponytail?” he asked eagerly. Prim chuckled. The crush was still going strong.

“Course you can baby,” Prim said, kissing his forehead. She then sighed. “I give up. Grace! You said you had an idea?”

“Punk rock!” Grace said gleefully as she danced into the bathroom, listening to her iPod through one headphone. She had just bought the new Jonas Quinton album and was thrilled. “Not your style.”

“Okay, one- you dress in pink and blues and soft tones,” Prim said firmly as Grace began styling Harry’s hair in a spiky style. “Second, I do wear jeans and t-shirts!”

“And then you wear things like pleated skirts and blouses or dresses and shawls.” Grace shot back, sticking her tongue out. “I’m more hip than you!”

“I’m 21, you’re 16-”

“Almost 17!”

“Almost 17, that is not much of a difference, thank you.” Prim rolled her eyes at Grace’s face she made as she finished with Harry’s hair and then got him to change his shirt to a black button up instead of the white. 

Prim did not mention how much better it looked.

Grace’s smirk made her realize she knew though.

**_October 2013_ **

“So you hooked up with some guy in Indianapolis and now you’re feeling guilty?” JD asked Prim sighed. “This is weird.”

“It’s not guilt. It’s… being unaware if a… hook up was proper when you have a son.” Prim said. JD rolled their eyes.

“Look, you had fun, right? You enjoyed yourself and Harry was at a sleepover so he was taken care of. Grace is old enough to be by herself- stop feeling guilty!” They threw their hands up in annoyance.

“I can’t just stop JD,” Prim said. “It’s… I don’t know. Should I be looking for someone special? So that I can give Harry another parent?”

“...Prim, you’re 21.” JD said, leaning on the bar counter and giving her a look. “You don’t need to focus on finding the ONE right now or your soulmate or whatever. Yeah, it would be great for Harry to have like a dad or another mom or a… bibi or whatever, but like… real talk? He just needs a stable family and you’re that already. Plus like Razi is his super crush slash uncle which is weird to think about, but yeah. You can focus on having fun and having a few hookups.”

“...His parents did sign him up for some fancy boarding school next year. Maybe I’ll have some more fun then.” Prim chuckled. JD pointed at her.

“See? And really?”

“Harry’s technically a lord though… not really? I believe the title was removed a century ago.” When there was something that had happened with the Black family. Prim honestly had not opened that can of worms after learning some of the more… disturbing situations the Blacks had caused.

“...Bullshit.” JD said. Prim shrugged and they stuck out their tongue, revealing a piercing.

“Didn’t know you had that pierced,” Prim remarked, a little impressed. Other then her ears, she had never wanted any other piercings. Much too painful.

“Oh, yeah. An ex-girlfriend had one and it was wild so I got one.” JD waggled their eyebrows and Prim shook her head.

“...Thanks for the chat,” she said finally. They shrugged.

“Hey, no problem. We’re friends, right?” They winked at her and she grinned.

“I suppose I put up with you enough.” Prim shot back.

“Yay, we’re all a happy family,” Razi said, voice dry as a desert. “Now please get to work.”

“Right away,” both said, sharing grins.

-0-

Prim clutched the phone in her hand as she tried to figure out what to do. Harry was sick, while Grace and she both had work. She couldn’t take Harry into work and she couldn’t miss work either- nor could Grace! She was finally being trained as a waitress. They needed to go to work!

She struggled to think of someone to watch her kid, someone who had the day… off… 

She dialed a number and prayed it would be okay. 

“Yo, this is JD.”

“JD can I ask you a huge favor?”

After explaining the situation, JD agreed and ended up driving up on their bike.

“You have no idea how much this means to me,” Prim said at the door. 

“Eh, not like I had anything else to do.” They said with a shrug. “He’s asleep?”

“Yeah, probably won’t wake up but if he does he’ll just want to sit on the couch and watch some show. He’s really into Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood right now-”

“You let him watch that?” JD asked, somewhat surprised she would let him watch such a bloody show. She didn’t seem the type at all. Prim frowned at them.

“It’s not that bad and I trust his maturity level.” Prim shrugged. “Alright, I have to go- there’s a bunch of food in the fridge. Help yourself!” She waved and left, leaving them behind. JD entered the house and wondered what the hell they’d been thinking, agreeing to babysit. Like, sure, they liked the kid but babysitting? Ugh. 

They grabbed some food from the fridge and turned on the TV, noticing someone had been watching some sort of documentary about aliens on CrispyFlix. 

“Who watches that?” They wondered out loud. Maybe it was one of the late night needing to sleep binges. They flickered through the shows before landing on an anime their sister had said was good. They had plenty to say about Hikari but she had good taste in anime.

Watching for a little while, they heard someone coming down the stairs. Pausing the show, they saw Harry coming down the stairs carrying his stag plushie.

“Hey kid,” JD said, giving the kid a grin. “You up now?”

“Mmm,” the kid mumbled, coming over to the couch to grab a blanket and wrapping himself up in it. JD wordlessly turned the show to the anime he would like. JD had just finished the series themself so it would be interesting to watch it with the kid and see his reactions.

“I like Edward,” Harry said softly halfway through the episode where they meet Greed. “He’s a good big brother.”

“I agree with you there,” JD told the kid. “I do like the Colonel’s alchemy more though.”

“Mmm, I like Mei’s stuff. Super cool throwing knives and directing her power.” Harry said. 

“Hey, that’s a good point.”

“And she has a cute panda.”

“Who bites. I like that thing.” JD chuckled. Harry smiled at JD who flashed a grin back. They continued their quiet chatter throughout the episode, Harry gasping in horror at the death of the various chimera in Greed’s base. “Yeah, it gets darker here on out. You sure you wanna watch without your mom?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, sounding a bit nervous but he swallowed. “You’re here, right JD? I trust you.”

“...Trust me with what?” JD asked slowly.

“Being there when it gets dark,” Harry responded. JD stared at the kid, confused and a little touched by the honest words from the boy, though they didn’t say anything. Just swallowed and went back to watching.

JD was unaware of Harry drifting off until soft snores came from the kid after a few more episodes. They paused the TV and hesitated for a second, looking at Harry. The kid was sleeping weird and probably would get a kink in his neck if he stayed there longer. And… the kid was a good kid and sick and…

“This means nothing,” JD muttered as they picked up Harry and carefully carried him upstairs. It took a few minutes to find his room, and they paused to see that Spot was sleeping at the end of the bed. The dog woke up when JD entered to tuck Harry into his bed, raising his head. The dog traded a look with JD before going back to sleep. 

“Yeah, you don’t say anything I won’t either,” JD muttered to the dog before they put Harry into his bed. They left after making sure the kid was covered. Wouldn’t want him to get sicker.

Afterward they went back downstairs to pretend it had never happened at all.

**_October 31, 2013_ **

“I am Dracula!” Harry said in a loud voice, showing off his costume for the bowling alley. Spot wore a pair of bat wings attached to his back and looked done. 

Meanwhile, JD was covering their mouth, looking way too amused while Razi was smiling widely and Diego just stared. JD was dressed up as a ‘slutty witch’ as they called it complete with a very short skirt. Razi was again just wearing a top hat while Diego wore his normal clothing.

“Nice costume,” Razi said as Prim removed her witch hat. She had dressed as the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of OZ and was already regretting the paint. 

“He's been obsessing over vampires since Grace found this website of vampire jokes.” JD perked right up as Diego groaned.

“Tell us some!” JD insisted. Harry grinned while Prim grimaced.

“Why did the vampire flunk art?” Harry asked.

“I don't know, why?”

“Because he could only draw blood!” Harry grinned as JD snorted. “How did you know the vampire was sick said the nurse. Well, the doctor said, he wouldn't stop coffin!” JD started laughing as Harry continued to state bad vampire jokes, Razi chortling a few times himself while Diego just looked long-suffering.

Prim managed to remind Harry about trick or treating but JD made the boy promise to give them the website he got the jokes from. 

Prim was not looking forward to the next few months of work.

**_November 2013_ **

“Chetas is kinda like my grandma,” Harry said to Prim as he struggled with his homework at the bar. Prim was cleaning glasses, feeling exhausted. She had been working extra shifts as her truck was having issues and she needed the money.

“...Huh, I suppose she is.” Prim blinked. “...Do you wanna call her that?”

“...Nah. She’s Chetas.” Harry shrugged.

“Yeah, that’s true.”

-0-

 Diego checked Harry’s blood pressure, Prim sitting in the room quietly.

“Well, looks like another clean bill of health… and no shots,” Diego said with a chuckle. Harry grinned as Prim chuckled. 

“Thank you, Dr. Diego!” Harry said in a happy tone, smiling up at the doctor who grinned back.

“Thank you for bringing Spot over to play. I miss having a dog.” Diego told tas he packed his bag with the ease of practice. “Have you thought about doing a sport?” He asked Harry who shrugged.

“I’m going to a boarding school my mum and dad signed me up for at birth. Mama says it’s a really good one. They’ll have sports then!” He grinned and with permission ran off. While his mama always made sure to include him in discussions about him, he also got bored easily and trusted her to tell him stuff.

“Is there any reason you brought up sports? He’s a fairly active child with Spot.” Prim asked the doctor who finished packing his stuff.

“...It’s a small town Miss Evans, and I am well aware of the fact Harry does not have…”

“Many friends?” Prim asked. She tilted her head and gave a smirk, raising an eyebrow. “Is Razi gossiping again?”

“Somewhat,” Diego admitted with a chuckle. Prim shook her head, a fond smile on her face as she rolled her eyes.

“That man. The thing is Doctor, is that Harry is going to be going to a school in England. As well, the school only has physical mail sources as they believe that computers are detrimental to the learning process. Harry’s aware of the struggles it would cause to remain friends and wishes to be alone because of this.” Prim shrugged. “As well, he’s not… comfortable with people still. He prefers his dog.” 

“So you don’t push because you worry for him?” Diego asked. Prim nodded.

“Quite right. He’s a good kid and… well, I wasn’t that social either as a child though that was more due to bullying and the… dislike of the town. However, I still turned out fairly all right.” She shrugged again. “I will consider sports or something similar for summer programming if his lack of a social life continues while he’s in England.”

“You’re a good mother, I don’t doubt you’ll do the best you can for him,” Diego told her, nodding. “Have a good evening.” 

“You as well doctor, and thank you again for your house calls,” Prim said to the man, walking him out.

“Well, not much of a hospital here in town and I don’t enjoy the thought of a bunch of people coming to my house to spread illness where I sleep.” Diego chuckled. He nodded to her and left the house as she waved him off.

Harry was busy roughhousing with Spot in his room when she checked in on him. She watched for a little while, smiling but she left, sighing.

Was she doing the right thing by not forcing her kid out to socialize? She knew that most experts said that at least one productive after school activity would help Harry in the long run- even if it was something like a swim club where it was more individual focused sports- but she had never really bothered because she knew he was going to Hogwarts.

All she could do was hope he could make friends there.

**_December 2013_ **

“Okay, worst date go!” JD said, pointing at Razi. It was a ‘staff meeting’ night or a night where the three would just sit around and chat. Razi had started it after he’d noticed the tension between JD and Prim but they never stopped doing them after the two became friends.

“Ugh, okay so it was with this guy and he was very… focused on the idea of being a top?” Razi said, making a face.

“Not one of those types.” Prim groaned, covering her face. She’d met a few ladies who were more focused on being as dominant or as submissive as possible. Some weren’t bad, but others…

“I have no problem with either way but this guy was… he was offended at my height and muscle mass!” Razi rolled his eyes. “It ended with me just leaving.”

“Ugh that sucks,” JD said. They then pointed to Prim. “Your turn.”

“It wasn’t a date but it was a… friends with benefits situation.” Prim began. “It was when I was traveling. I met up with a very pretty woman who was traveling as well and I thought; well then, let’s travel together. We started… having fun together about two weeks in. We both found each other attractive and we both agreed that sometimes it was hard to find a partner while traveling so why not.”

“Let me guess,” JD said. “One of you began taking it more seriously?”

“Yes. We both made it clear that were would break it off or talk if one of us developed feelings. Or that we would never assume said feelings would be returned. We both were aware that…” Prim shrugged. “Well, we were aware humans make unhealthy choices sometimes and that we might not talk or break it off so… we promised. However she…” Prim made a motion with her hand, just waving it. “She decided that I had to have feelings for her and when I broke it off to come back here, she was furious that I was not only breaking it off but also that I didn’t return her feelings.” 

“I’ve had a situation like that,” JD said, shuddering. “But again, worst date.”

“You just let me tell my story!” Prim said.

“You offered it, I agree though. Worst date!” Razi said with a grin. Prim rolled her eyes but laughed.

“My date tripped into the waiter coming back from the bathroom and the waiter dumped a hot plate of pasta on me while I was wearing a light blue dress,” Prim said. “Ruined the dress, the guy thought it romantic to go ‘Oh baby, wanna go back to my place to change?’” She mocked the man's voice in her most ridiculous tone, causing JD and Razi to burst into laughter. “Only bright side is I got free food out of that.”

“That sucks,” JD said, still laughing. “And my worst dates usually involve misgendering or people being dicks.” They shrugged as Prim and Razi made faces at that. “Razi’s turn to ask a question!”

“Alright… what is… your favorite take-out order?” 

“Razi, ask a real one!”

“What? We’re all hungry!” Prim laughed as the two bickered, smiling at her friends. She hadn’t expected to earn such a bond with them when she first started working at the bowling alley but she loved it.

-0-

Chetas sat at the bar, watching as Prim spoke with Harry, the two playing some arcade game while JD and Grace cheered them on.

“She’s a good one.” mused Chetas, accepting the drink Razi handed her. “Haven’t said anything yet?”

“No. We thought it more appropriate to wait.” He replied, leaning on his arms that he folded on the bar. “You tell her?”

“Better to come from close friends than old woman they see once in a while,” Chetas replied. Razi shrugged.

“Well, when the kid goes off, we’re gonna have a chat. Maybe we will, maybe we won’t.” Razi said.

“You mean if the child stays here after the kid leaves. It’s a way to judge isn’t it?” Chetas asked in amusement. Razi shrugged and turned to Diego who had been keeping out of the conversation to give him a drink. He also grabbed the camera to snap a photo of Grace, Prim and Harry laughing as the two stood in front of an arcade machine.

It was a good picture.

**_January 2014_ **

“I am never going to a New Year's Eve party JD hosts again,” Prim muttered, head between her legs. She was sitting on the couch after falling asleep the night before and had a horrific headache pounding in her ears.

“Hangover from hell, hmmmmmm?” Grace asked in a teasing tone, setting down a glass of water.

“I am never drinking again,” Prim muttered. Harry was being very quiet and she hated it because he had gotten terrified when she came in drunk. He remembered his uncle far too well when he got drunk. 

“Or at least not with JD. Razi called and said you matched them shot for shot- and I know they have crazy tolerance.” Grace said. 

“Leave me alone,” Prim said. She curled up on the couch and ignored her sister and son as the two giggled at her.

Never again.

**_March 2014_ **

Harry was sitting in the diner eating a big sundae that his mama had got him for acing his latest science test. Grace was keeping an eye on him with Luce’s permission, the owner still not a fan of the family but she had a soft spot for kids.

The door opened and two men came in, quietly chatting. As it was a seat yourself place, the went and sat down behind Harry.

“Alright, so this place?” one asked.

“Only weird thing is the fog, Dean. That’s the only weird thing.” 

“And no big deaths or anything at all?”

“Nope. Just a lot of fog.” 

“Alright, do we have a case at all Sammy?”

“A few towns south yeah- missing people.” The door opened then and JD came in.

“Who has the Impala? That’s a thing of beauty!” they called out and the people behind Harry laughed.

“Thanks… uhhh…”

“Name’s JD,” JD laughed. “Nice to meet you.” They came over, stopping to say hi to Harry before they started a conversation with the two behind Harry about cars and bikes. Harry finished his sundae before his mama came into the diner.

“JD, Razi says get back to work before he decides to come after you,” Prim told her coworker who sighed.

“Fine. Have a nice night off Prim. Thanks for the chat, Dean.” JD left with a wave. 

“Prim, is it?” asked Dean in a weird voice. Harry turned around to kneel on the seat, looking at Dean. 

“Why are you talking like that to my mama?” Prim chuckled and ruffled Harry’s hair.

“He’s being foolish sweetie. And my answer is no.” She told Dean who shrugged. Harry gave her a confused look and she just laughed.

“Yay, my sister gets hit on by a hot guy-” Grace muttered as she walked away.

“She’s underage,” Prim told Dean who raised his hands.

“Whoa, wasn’t going to lady.”

“Just making absolutely sure. Harry, let us depart.” Prim said, ruffling his hair again. The two left, leaving behind the strangers as the mother and son headed to their truck.

**_July 2014_ **

It was a nice sunny day when the mailbox glowed in the corner of the kitchen. Grace dug through the mail pile that had arrived, grinning when she found one certain letter.

“Mr. Harry Potter, the second biggest room-” she read off the envelope before Harry grabbed it, cheering.

“It’s my Hogwarts letter! I’m going to Hogwarts!!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied. The next two years got squashed together because I couldn’t think of any other cute scenes. As well, first-year happens before Season 1 of Havenfall, so we’ll get through this and then the Havenfall fun starts. As well… I originally was completely sure about where the pairing was going but now I’m torn because I thought of like eight REALLY GOOD plot points for another route and now it’s… gar. At least I have year one first before the big decision.
> 
> PLOT STUFF I WANNA CHAT ABOUT
> 
> -I love the MC original outfit but I also love the idea of Prim wearing these super cute prim and proper outfits like *insert links* so… yeah. She wears a wide variety of clothing. She’s just picky about when she wears them.
> 
> -The scene with Harry asking if it’s okay if he stops mourning is something I decided on due to far-reaching plot points. Yes, the previous chapter had him mourning but this is due to the fact it was the first time he knew. It’s not… to me, the idea of Harry always mourning his parents as people just doesn’t make sense. He didn’t know them, and here- not only did he get negative and wrong information from the Dursley family, but Prim doesn’t really know much other then Lily was a nice cousin sort of thing. So he mourns the idea of a loving set of parents, but not his actual parents. Add in that Prim is his mom now, and he more mourns the what if, but he’s a kid and bounces back.
> 
> -You know, originally I had this huge plot where JD and Prim fought a fair bit because Prim is very much not like JD, but the more I wrote it the more I went: Damn it, I like their canon interaction in all their routes (friends who mess with each other) too much. So yeah, less bickering than I originally intended.
> 
> -I know Razi canonly is a fucking brick wall, but Harry is tiny nine-year-old who has gay baby crush on Razi and is OBVIOUS AS FUCK. Running away red because of a gin? Yeah, obvious. Probably had more stuff happen before this and now it’s hitting him.
> 
> -The teacher bit… oh, no I’m not stating how the Snape thing will go down. Not at all.
> 
> -Ages ago I wrote a one-shot with JD having a tongue piercing and it literally is my favorite headcanon of them. I got told I was the one to be the originator of this and like: what? But anyway- it’s canon. NO ONE CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE.
> 
> -Chetas was going to get called grandma but like… I realized while I will be dragging her in and out of the story I kinda like the idea of her being just Chetas? I dunno? She’s Chetas.
> 
> -It’s canon that Diego makes house calls and was going to the MC house in his route to give Grace shots for college. As well, it’s mentioned the hospital is a bit away so I assume there’s a small town nearby (but with some distance) with a hospital that most Havenfall folks go to in an emergency, while Diego does act as the general doctor in Havenfall he just makes house calls mostly. (There was a town near mine growing up that did something similar).


	5. Chapter 5

The days leading up to the supply trip were slightly chaotic as the group ran around and tried to find things. It was decided to go to Diagon Alley for the supplies as the magical alleys in America would not carry all the correct supplies anyway though they did go to check, now that Harry was legally allowed into them. A precaution that the government held was that muggleborn children were not allowed to go to the magical alleys without a proper magical escort until they were ten at the very least.  As Prim was unaware of any American magical citizens they had never gone to them.

The only thing they bought in the alley was a set of phones that could reach anyone anywhere and work around magic. They were very cool and could work with any phone provider.

Prim put out the news that Harry was going to boarding school fairly easily and listened to various people comment on it, all surprised she would let him go across the world and some jealous mumbles about the fact Harry had a large inheritance. She gave those people dirty looks. That was not the proper way to react to that news.

“Alright, so the portkey will be leaving in five minutes-” Prim said, as she adjusted her scarf. With them going out, she had cause to wear one of her nicer clothing options- an outfit Grace often called her actress outfit. “We’ll be landing in the Ministry Auditorium- Grace you have-”

“I have my Muggle Pass, I promise,” Grace said to her older sister. A Muggle Pass as Grace called it would let her into the Ministry without setting off their alarms. Prim carried one as well.

“Okay- oh! Sweetie!” Prim grabbed a hat and put it on Harry’s head. “Let's try to hide ourselves a bit longer.” The group waited, all holding the belt that would be used as their portkey, nervous.

When it happened, it felt like a hook had attached to them and they went off. Prim closed her eyes tightly, feeling sick while Grace swore loudly and Harry shouted. When they landed, Prim briskly smoothed her skirt down and adjusted her scarf.

“Utterly ridiculous transportation.” She said.

“Agreed,” Grace said, standing up from where she had sprawled, Harry having to do the same. “How did you land on your feet?”

“I honestly do not know,” Prim admitted. “Well, come along. We have much to do!” They left the Ministry after a quick check-in that had Prim threatening the worker to keep his mouth shut about Harry being in England.

When they did leave though, Prim struggled to find the right street they needed, while both Grace and Harry claimed they had to go to the bathroom.

“Couldn't you have used the Ministry one?” Prim asked in exasperation.

“Hell no.”

“Language.” Prim sighed. She understood- being there risked the chances of Harry being discovered. “Fine. Go to the store and I'll look up the street.”

Prim squinted at her phone as Grace and Harry ducked into a store beside them to use the bathroom. Google maps were acting odd and not giving her the proper directions to the road she needed.

Huffing, she turned to go into the store to ask directions when she ran into a man just stepping out.

“Oh!” she shouted, about to fall back, but the man grabbed her arm.

“Easy,” the man said with a laugh. He was a rather tall man with brown hair and very expensive clothing paired with what looked like even more expensive glasses. He must be from Spain, Prim thought randomly, he has a similar accent to Diego. Very faint, but somewhat there.

“I am terribly sorry,” Prim said as the man let her arm go.

“It’s alright.” the man said in a very smooth tone. He smirked at her. “You seemed to suddenly decide to go into the store fast.”

“My GPS isn’t working very well on my phone,” Prim said. The man gave her a confused look, but Prim felt a bit off from the said look like it was masking something else. Something dangerous.

“GPS? Forgive me, but your accent is American and we are in London…”

 “I caved and bought the special travel package,” Prim lied. Thanks to the American Magical Apple Department, her phone was international. The man nodded.

“What were you searching for?” the man asked. Prim went to tap the home button on the screen when Harry and Grace came out of the store.

“Are we going, Mama?” Harry asked.

“One-second honey, I just need some directions,” Prim told the boy, turning back to the man who gave her directions. “Thank you, Mr…”

“Antonio Vasquez.” The man said with a smile.

“Did your GPS bust again sis?” Grace teased and the man seemed to stiffen almost but relaxed so quick that Prim dismissed it.

“Oh shush,” Prim said before she turned back to Mr. Vasquez. “Thank you, sir.”

“No problem Miss…”

“Primrose Evans,” Prim replied. She shook Antonio’s hand and the group split, with Antonio heading off and the Evans going to their shopping destination.

“He seemed… off.” Grace mused. “His gaze…”

“Felt a bit like something dangerous, yes I know.” Prim shrugged. “Maybe he was a dark wizard or such?”

“Whatever. Let's go shopping!” Grace cheered as Harry grinned up at them, his eyes sparkling with glee. They headed to the street and thanks to their Passes, both Grace and Prim noticed the Leaky Cauldron.

“We need to speak with the owner, a chap named Tom,” Prim told Grace and Harry as they entered the bar. Grace looked around in awe while Harry shrank against her slight. Prim simply walked right up to the counter.

“Excuse me.” She said to the bartender. He smiled at her.

“Hello, Miss! Haven't heard an accent like yours in a while.”

“Well, I am from America. Are you Tom?” Prim asked.

“Aye. And you?”

“Primrose Evans sir. I'm here with my younger cousin and sister. My cousin is a wizard and he was accepted to Hogwarts as his parents were British. Neither I nor my sister has magic…” she shrugged as Tom nodded.

“I see. Hmm,- Bruce!” He called over to a scruffy looking fellow.

“Yeah Tom?” The man grumbled.

“Can you help Miss Evans get into the alley with her cousin and sister?”

“Yeah.” The man said, standing up in a hunched fashion. The Evans family followed Bruce to the back where he tapped a brick in the wall. The bricks began to move and even Prim couldn't withhold her gasp of astonishment.

Diagon Alley was a riot of colors and sounds as they stepped through, thanking Bruce as they did so.

Prim looked around the place and spotted the Gringotts bank ahead.

“Alright, so we’ll be going to pick up some money for the shopping. After which we will start with the trunk and see if we can't get some magic to let us carry it easily or shrink it.” She told Harry and Grace who nodded their agreement.

The trip to the bank was fairly simple. She did spend a few minutes chatting with Harry’s accountant. Apparently, the Malfoy family had tried to fight back against the fines leveled at them and tried to get Remus tossed out as he was a werewolf but they had failed each time. Meaning they lost a lot of money fighting. It was funny to Prim, that they had even tried after being revealed as snakes and liars.

“It as well helped Hogwarts greatly. Their potions professor was discovered to be giving unfair points and punishments out but Mr. Malfoy was hiding any complaints made to the board by the parents. He was placed on probation until this year. Time will tell if he's changed.” Boneclaw said with a shrug.

“Good. I hope Harry actually learns something while in school rather than having to deal with a nasty teacher.” Prim said firmly.

They left the bank after confirming that the investments were going strong and with a surprising offer from the Goblins to manage Prim’s own meaner account. Apparently, they had noticed how much the Potter account was making and realized her advice had helped it grow, simply by investing in the Muggle World. They wanted to thank her (or thank her as much as they could) as these choices also helped the bank when they started investing in the Muggle World, growing their money.

Prim was thrilled though she didn't have much money in general, she hoped it would work!

They did go to the trunk store first, finding one that did shrink with a command that was also feather light as well as unbreakable and had a voice lock. It was quite expensive but Prim encouraged Harry to get it.

“You're going to be using this trunk for seven years, honey. You'll be banging it up and down the stairs, slamming it into walls and trying to carry it. As well given…” her eyes went to his forehead for a second. “Everything, having it lock and only respond to your voice to open or shrink is a benefit.”

As well he could completely afford it. The goblins had added extra to his trust and Prim did put what extra money she got from the stipend she received into the trust as well.

With that, Prim also made him get a bag with a charm on it that was called an Extendable Charm. Grace called it a bag of holding with a grin.

“That's some video game term right?”

“Prim, you play video games.” Grace pointed out. “And look up memes for a laugh.”

“True but I never actually know what game that's from.”

“... I'll be honest. I don't either.” Grace said, frowning before she shrugged. “Eh. Come on Harry! Let's go get your books now!” They skipped off after buying the trunk and coding it to Harry’s (and Prim’s) voice. It was a law for a minor to have a second person have their voice coded so a teacher could contact the third party just in case. Prim had happily agreed.

The bookstore was quick and easy- other then Harry begging to buy three books in magizoology. Prim had laughed while buying them. His love of animals was cute. He doted on Spot and often he would carry injured animals he found into the house for help. She was lucky he wasn't a vegetarian- that would be a hard thing to handle with trying to figure out proper substitutions for iron and protein supplements.

Potion ingredients and the cauldron took little time as well. At most, it just was annoying spending the time in the rather disgusting store.

“Why do you need to buy parchment?” Prim wondered as she stared at the stationary store. “Does parchment have magic properties?”

“Maybe ask the guy inside?” Grace suggested as they entered said store.

“I will,” Prim said firmly, going over to ask.

“What else would they use?” the store owner answered in confusion. Prim stared at him for a moment and then turned around.

“We’re buying enough for your assignments but going to Staples for a notebook and pens. I do not like the look of you trying to write notes with those quills!” She told Harry firmly. They gathered what was needed before heading to the next store to grab a telescope.

“This looks super out of date. Maybe he should use mine from my astronomy phase?” Grace asked.

“He can bring both just in case they kick a fuss about him using one or the other,” Prim said before she nodded to a large shop called Madam Malkins. “Let's get your robes, honey.”

“Joy, clothes shopping,” Harry said with a pout. “Can we get ice cream after this?’

“If you do not make that much of a fuss,” Prim told Harry who nodded and they entered the shop to have Harry dressed in his robes.

“You’re here rather early for Hogwarts.” the woman said. Madam Malkin apparently.

“We wanted to get his things sooner rather than later,” Prim explained, smiling. Madame Malkin nodded.

“That makes sense. Traditions do state you come in August but why not as soon as you get the letters?” The woman shook her head and began measuring Harry for his robes. He held out remarkably well and the woman didn’t jump when she had to take Harry’s hat off to measure his head and saw his scar. After they agreed to come back for the robes, they paid and went off to the ice cream parlor where Harry eagerly tried the Chocolate Butterbeer, Grace had Strawberry Unicron- an ice cream that shone a new color every few minutes- and Prim got a simple Vanilla with sparkles that changed color.

“You’re boring,” Grace told Prim. Prim shrugged.

“I accept my status as the boring one. I still get ice cream.” She told Grace who snorted, loudly.

“Boring ones shouldn’t get ice cream, right Harry?” she asked her nephew who hesitated before grinning slightly.

“Right.”

“Rude! The both of you!” Teased Prim as they finished their ice cream. They then went to what Harry was looking forward to most, not that he had said anything.

Ollivander's wand shop.

Opening the door, they looked around at all the strange boxes and shelves inside. Prim looked around for the owner while Grace sat down on the chair in the corner. Harry went up to the desk to ring the bell while Prim stood back a little.

“Hello!” a man said out of nowhere, causing the three to startle. Grace even fell out of the chair, prompting a look of amusement from Prim. “Mr. Potter. I wondered when you would be here…” mused the man, studying him. Prim reached out to grab Harry’s shoulders, leveling a look at Ollivander that he ignored.

“Which is your wand arm?” asked the wandmaker.

“Umm… I’m left-handed.” Harry said slowly. The tape measure Ollivander held began moving then and Prim backed off slowly. She noticed the tape measure going around by itself while Ollivander spoke, his voice calm and even.

“I remember when your mother and father were here for their first wands. Your mother favored a wand that was perfect for charm work while your father enjoyed one that was good for transfiguration. Well, I say favor and enjoyed but it is truly the wand that chooses the witch or wizard Mr. Potter.” Ollivander said. He pulled a wand off the shelf and offered it to Harry who took it with a wave.

And that was when the fun started. Harry tried many wands, over and over again. Grace had pulled out her phone to play a game and Prim was reading one of the books Harry had bought on Magizoology, bored.

“I wonder…” Ollivander said suddenly, bringing their attention to him. He went way into the back of the shop, carrying out a wand. “Try this one. Holly, elven inches with a phoenix feather tail. Nice and supple.” Harry took it and frowned.

“It… feels warm but not…” he said out loud, sounding confused. Ollivander blinked and then a gleam appeared in his eyes.

“Oh, you are a tricky one. Miss, may I take him to the back to get an extra piece?”

“I… yes,” Prim said with a nod and Harry followed Ollivander to the back of the shop where what looked like a workshop was set up. Harry really wished Spot was with him as Ollivander brought out feathers and what looked like strings, placing them on the counter.

“Go on, see what calls you,” Ollivander said. Harry reached out, almost knowing what to do automatically. He hovered his hand over each piece and shook his head, feeling very nervous. Ollivander looked completely confused. “That shouldn’t… hmmm.” He reached into his desk and pulled out a red feather in a small tube. “What about this one?” he asked, putting it down and opening the top.

Harry could feel the heat coming from the small feather as he reached out, hovering a hand over it. It felt like fire but also exactly what he had been missing.

“That one.”

“Fascinating… I never thought a devil feather would work with a phoenix feather. I wonder why…” Ollivander sounded impressed.

“A devil feather?” Harry asked in surprise.

“Ah yes. About… oh, thirty-fifty years ago I helped a young devil escape from England. In exchange, they gave me a feather. This one.” Ollivander said. “I never truly held the same thoughts most of my fellows hold about devils but I still hesitated to use the feather, until now.” He shrugged and took the wand and the feather. “Go back to your mother, it will take only a little time for me to make your wand.”

Harry obeyed and hugged Prim, surprising the woman who hugged back.

Harry just wondered what it meant, that a devil feather worked so well for him?

-0-

Prim studied Harry who was snuggling Spot. He had been very quiet since the trip to Diagon and she worried over him.

“Honey?” she asked, walking over to sit down with him on the grass. “You okay?” He shrugged. Prim reached out and ran a hand over his hair, petting him as he petted Spot.

“...Am I a good person?” Harry asked.

“Of course you are,” Prim told him, frowning. “You’re one of the best people I know honey. Why would you ever think otherwise?” Harry shrugged and said no more on the subject, but he did get happier as the start of Hogwarts approached.

On his birthday a white owl appeared as a gift from Remus, as a way to contact him as the ban from contacting Harry would not work if it was from Harry to Remus.

“She’s beautiful!” Harry said, petting her.

“Better give her a good name. I vote Queenie.” Grace said. Harry gave her an affronted look.

“That’s a boring name!”

“No, it isn’t!” Grace said and the two bickered back and forth for a long while until Harry opened his History of Magic book and picked out the first female name.

“HER NAME IS HEDWIG!” Harry shouted and Grace moaned at the loss of a great name while Prim just rolled her eyes at them.

After Harry’s birthday it seemed like September ran right at them, and soon they were in King’s Cross Station, saying goodbye as they couldn’t cross the barrier themselves.

“You be good Harry,” Prim told her son with a hug. He hugged right back.

“I will Mom, promise,” he said. With that, he waved goodbye as he walked through the barrier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From now on until like… next story this is pure HP with the occasional cameo from Prim and Grace as well as Havenfall’s Finest. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!! As well, we got two extra chapters for you guys coming up! One is POV switch so if you're pure Potter fan reading this and want to try and figure it out, don't read it! But the next is the Malfoy family reacting to the loss of their seat!! https://archiveofourown.org/works/16338449/chapters/38855201
> 
> Plot points:
> 
> -Yeah no. Sorry. I don't like Snape. I won't deny he was a ‘Good’ guy but the thing is you can still fight for the right things but be an incredibly shitty person. I think JK did have a widely publish a video where she hesitates on calling him good. Brave? He is brave. But a good man? No. So here he got a talking to early. We’ll have to see what happens later but yeah.
> 
> -I’m of two minds of the debate: Muggleborns bring in pens and looseleaf. Like, on one side I think it makes sense that the Wizarding World legit does not have any idea of pens or paper but on the other its like: What if there was a reason? Here there isn’t but like Prim isn’t sure about the prejudice in the world. So notebooks for notes and first drafts, parchment for later.
> 
> -Harry being left handed. Okay, this is more my own amusement but I know that some schools still hold the idea that being left-handed means your evil. Some people do too- I have met some of these people. So the idea of the Dursley family forcing Harry to be right-handed isn’t a far stretch to me. So… Harry is left handed here. Because Prim let him write how he wanted and he just kept picking up his pen or things with his left hand and she never stopped it.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry was utterly terrified as he walked onto the platform. He really wanted his mom or aunt. But he was a big kid and his mom said she was proud and…

 No panicking. No panicking. Just breathe. Just breathe. He told himself, gripping Spot’s leash tightly. He was happy he'd gotten permission to have the dog with him. He wouldn't be able to stand it otherwise.

 “Hello!” A voice said, startling Harry and causing him to almost fall over. Spot barked. “Whoa! Sorry about that.” An older boy moved to stand in front of Harry. “Didn't mean to surprise you. He your guide dog?”

 “Companion animal,” Harry said honestly. The boy nodded and offered his hand.

 “I'm Cedric Diggory. It's nice to meet you,” the boy said.

 “Harry Potter, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He said like his mom usually did when she was in a situation with strangers. The boy looked surprised before he smiled.

 “Would you like a hand with your trunk… oh! You got a shrinking one?”

 “My mother’s idea. She said it was a better idea then having to haul one around for the next seven years.” Harry told the boy who nodded.

 “Fair,” Cedric said. He did help Harry find a nice compartment though- commenting about Hedwig.

 “My uncle believed it would be a great idea for me to contact him this way. I moved to America when I was young and while we have a mailbox an owl is quicker for him and me.” Harry told Cedric who nodded his understanding. He left to go find his friends and Harry pulled out a book on magizoology while petting Spot. After a while, the door opened up and a red-haired boy came in.

 “Do you mind? Everywhere else is full.” The boy said.

 “Not at all,” Harry said. The boy blinked and looked a little nervous but sat down.

 “I'm Ron Weasley.” He said cautiously and Harry took a breath.

 “I'm Harry Potter. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Ron looked shocked.

 “You are?!?” Harry winced, unable to control that. Ron also flinched seeing the wince. “Sorry.”

 “It's…” His mom's voice came into his mind, saying never apologize for his feelings. “Alright. I… had an unpleasant experience living with my aunt and uncle before I went to live with my adoptive mother. I'm not a fan of loud noises.” Harry pet Spot a bit more. Ron looked confused but shook his head.

 “Where do you grow up then? In the Wizarding World in America?”

 “No. My mother is a muggle though she does have contacts with the magical world. I grew up in a small town in Indiana- a State in the US.”

 “Wicked,” Ron said. “Do you have any siblings? I've got six of them.”

 “That's quite an amount!” Harry said in surprise. “I don't have any siblings really. My mother’s younger sister is only seven years older then I and she's always been more of a sister than an aunt but she is still my aunt. We were raised together.”

 “Cool,” Ron said. “I'm the youngest boy. Every single one of my brothers has done something great, meaning if I do something awesome they've already done it.” He looked gloomy as he spoke. Harry could sympathize. Some of JD’s stories or Razi’s comments about their siblings being better than them came to mind.

 “My mother’s boss- Razi- has an older sibling he says was always better,” Harry said slowly, remembering the talk Razi gave him when he was upset at not getting the highest grade in the class. “He currently runs the family business and is known as one of the kindest men in town. It doesn't matter what your siblings did- it matters how you do them.”

 “... thanks,” Ron said, smiling a little. “Umm… what house do you think you'll be in?”

 “I don't know. This is the first item I encountered a House system truthfully.” Harry shrugged.

 “They don't have it in America?” Ron asked in surprise. Harry shook his head.

 “Not at all.” Harry hummed. “Truthfully I feel Hufflepuff would be the best choice for me. I am hardworking and my mother often taught me that being a hard worker is all it takes to succeed. As well… she's always been a loyal woman. She chose to give up her dreams for me and Grace- her sister- because she didn't want us to be raised by people who didn't care for us.” He shrugged.

 “She raised you and her sister?” Ron asked.

 “Her parents died when she and Grace where young and their grandmother died when she was given a scholarship to a culinary school- a cooking school,” Harry clarified at Ron’s confused look. “She's worked herself to the bone to be a good parent for me and a good sister for Grace.”

 “Wow.” Ron hesitated. “You know, my mum was one of the top five students in her year. She chose to be a stay at home mum with my older brother Bill. And then she kept having us and she could have…”

 “You don't realize how much your parents care until it's staring in your face,” Harry said. Ron nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. Spot barked from Harry’s lap and Harry happily pet him.

 “How do you have two pets?” Ron asked then, curious and a little jealous though he wouldn't admit it.

 “Hedwig was a gift from a friend of my biological parents so I can keep in contact with him. My mother and I have a mailbox set up I can carry with me to send letters and magic proof phones.” Harry explained. “Spot is a companion animal for my anxiety and panic attacks.” Ron winced then.

 No longer jealous at all.

 “I've got Scabbers,” Ron said then, pulling the rat out of his pocket. Spot suddenly lifted his head to stare at the rat for a long moment before putting his head back down. “He was Percy’s rat for a few years but he got an Owl for being Prefect-”

 “What is a Prefect?” Harry asked in confusion. Ron blinked at Harry.

 “Blimey, you really are not used to this school huh?” With that, Ron launched into a description of the school. Harry listened carefully, nodding to show he understood some comments.

 The door opened after a while when the conversation turned to Quidditch- a game that Harry was fairly certain his mother would have a panic attack herself if he played. A witch pushing a trolley was outside the door.

 “Anything off the trolley dears?” Ron winced and pulled out a sandwich while Harry pulled some coins out of his pocket. His mom had figured that there would be someone there with food but had still given him a lunch, just so he could buy some treats but not just eat junk food.

 “Ron, can you help me pick?” Harry asked him, redhead. “I'll buy you something as well?” Ron blinked and looked uncomfortable but stood up. They bought a small collection of treats- Harry thinking of Dr. Diego’s look if he bought too much. The downside of his mother is friends with a doctor, something he told Ron about.

 “Aren't doctors those nutters who cut people up?” Ron asked in confusion.

 “No. A doctor is… like a healer.” Harry said, remembering the word in a book. “Dr. Diego is the town doctor and usually handles colds or immunizations or other things. He does do surgery at times- which is cutting someone open but there have been hundreds of years of history to figure these things out.”

 “Huh. Cool. And he’s friends with your mum?”

 “Yes. He's friends with her boss and often comes to her workplace for a drink and the two talk.” Harry shrugged. “After school, I would go to the bowling alley to do homework and chat with her.”

 “Bowling alley? That where she works?”

 “Yeah,” Harry said, getting more and more used to Rob and dropping the formal tone. Ron noticed but didn't say anything. “It's like a second home. Razi helped me a lot through the ears and JD’s fun-”

 “JD a coworker of your mums?”

 “Yeah. They're pretty hilarious.” Harry said. Ron looked confused again and Harry elaborated. “They're nonbinary and always having Sheriff Hunt come in to yell.”

 “Sheriff?”

 “Hmmm, I think the term I can use is Auror? She's the boss of our town’s division.”

 “Wicked. JD causes trouble? And what's nonbinary?” Harry began explaining some of JD’s funnier stories while also explaining what nonbinary was. The two boys had a laugh and ate their packed meals first. “That's American food then?”

 “Yeah,” Harry said, munching on his burger his mom had bought for him from Stop and Go and put into his enchanted lunch box. “It's my favorite. Mom takes me out every once in a while to get one. She did learn how to cook Indian food from this woman named Chetas but like… I really wanted a burger before we left.”

 “Cool,” Ron said, nodding. The candy was weird to Harry though he really wished he could give JD some of the Every Flavoured Beans for a laugh. They would be so angry it would be funny.

 “I'm not a huge pure chocolate person,” Harry said, looking at the chocolate frogs he had gotten Ron.

 “Why not?” Ron asked. Harry shrugged.

 “Dunno.” The door opened then and Harry’s spine stiffened. Ron noticed it and frowned as a bushy-haired girl came into the compartment.

 “Have either of you seen a toad?” She asked in a bossy voice. “A boy named Neville has lost his.” Harry shook his head as did Ron.

 “Terribly sorry but no we did not,” Harry said politely. The girl looked at him and frowned.

 “Dogs aren't allowed at Hogwarts.” Harry frowned in turn.

 “I received special permission to have Spot with me,” Harry said. The girl scowled.

 “That's unfair. The rules are there for a reason and you flaunting them is wrong!” She said, huffing. Harry simply stared at her, feeling his heartbeat picking up. “I'll talk to the Headmaster and-”

 Harry began breathing raggedly, his lungs compressing and eyes widening. No, no, he can't lose Spot. He can't-

 “Harry!” Ron said, standing up as Spot barked and moved to sit in Harry’s lap fully. The girl looked shocked. Ron turned to her, glaring. “Get out. You're being rude and mean and we don't want you in here.” The girl looked hurt as Ron went to Harry, keeping back a bit and feeling lost.

 “Uh, Harry ummm… can you breathe, please? Just breathe okay?” Ron said in a nervous tone. The girl left, running off to find someone as Harry hugged Spot, shaking and having a hard time breathing. “Look if you have permission they won't take Spot, promise, alright?” Ron said, guessing what it was given Harry had said the dog was a companion animal and not a pet.

 “Hey-” a third year wearing yellow and black robes came in. “Heard the commotion… shit.” The boy said softly. “Panic attack. Harry- it's me, Cedric. You met me this morning. Can you take a deep breath and hold it?” The boy asked soothingly. Ron watched like a hawk as the boy calmed down Harry even when Percy showed up with the girl. Percy held her back and watched carefully.

 Once Harry was calm he also looked incredibly embarrassed, hiding his face in Spot’s fur.

 “Panic attack?” Percy asked. Cedric nodded. “Alright- Ron, give him a bit of space yes? He’ll be alright. We’ll inform the teachers just in case but he's okay now.”

 “What about his dog!” The girl demanded. Ron turned to give her a nasty look.

 “Shove off!” He told her. She looked incredibly offended as Percy frowned.

 “Please be polite Ron, and I assume it's a companion animal. He's here for health reasons and thus he was given special permission to have him.” The girl scowled.

 “He could have-”

 “He said he had special permission and you made him sick!” Ron told her, glaring at her. She looked upset as a boy came up to them.

 “Umm Hermione? Have you found my toad?”

 “Missing your pet? Here, I'll teach you a quick charm-” Cedric said, standing up and ushering the group out, leaving Ron and Harry alone. Percy went with them, obviously realizing they needed to leave the compartment.

 Ron stood there, glaring at the door while Harry took shallow breaths.

This girl had caused a kid who looked like he had a bit of a hard time in life to have a panic attack- whatever that was- all because of her stupid want to be right from what Ron could tell.  Whatever house she was in, he didn't want to be near. Even if it meant following Harry to Slytherin, that girl was annoying and rude!

-0-

 Harry and Ron had just changed into their uniform after the battle when the door opened again, Harry tensing and Ron moving in front of Harry slightly. Harry was thankful to Ron for that, feeling a bit calmer now that his friend was with him.

 “I heard Harry Potter was in this compartment,” said the blonde. He looked annoyed for some reason as he spoke. Harry swallowed.

 “That quite depends on who is asking,” he said, mimicking his mother’s tone when she was trying to be polite but cold to people. The boy scowled but tried to hide it.

 “Draco Malfoy.” Harry immediately remembered his mom and her talks about the Malfoy family. She had said to be careful but not to think the worst of the son. That was rude and cruel.

 “I see,” Harry said in as neutral a tone as possible. Ron snorted himself. His dad had hated the Malfoy patriarch ever since he had cut funding to their office. Luckily with the truth about the whole seat not being there's coming out, they got more money coming in now- meaning he and his siblings all had new wands now which was great.

 It was nice to remember that moment of happiness on his dad’s face.

 “Think my name is funny to do you?” Malfoy sneered at Ron who scowled at him. “Red hair, muggle clothing? You're either a mudblood or a Weasley.” Ron snarled at that. You did not say that word! That was disgusting!

 Harry frowned though. That sounded like an awful word and this kid was using it?

 “I can help you Potter,” Malfoy said. “Show you that some Wizarding families are better than others?” He offered his hand. Harry ignored it.

 “I believe I am more than able to find the right sort for myself. Now please leave. Spot is hungry and I'd rather not pull him off you.” The dog growled and Draco looked nervous before snarling at Harry wordlessly, leaving the compartment with a bang.

 “That was brilliant,” Ron told Harry. Spot barked happily and the two boys traded smiles. It was the start of a great friendship.

 The train soon arrived at school and the boys left, Spot having to be left behind while the boys were gone, but Harry felt safe with Ron honestly. He had already stuck up for him! It was a nice feeling. Sure some of his friends back home were cool but… they wouldn't have done this.

 The guy calling all the first years over was huge! Harry was a little nervous about him but he smiled at everyone and just gave off this cheerful vibe as he got them all to come over to a bunch of boats.

 “No more than four to a boat!” The giant man called. Harry and Ron, as well as two girls who looked like twins, got into the boat. They waited patiently as everyone was seated and then off they went.

 The first sight of the castle made Harry’s breathe hitch, eyes wide as he stared at the amazing place. He heard Ron gasp as well, staring at the sight.

 There were no words to describe it, other than amazing.

 At one point in their journey, Harry suddenly felt like he was back in the safety of the bowling alley, having a cup of hot chocolate and chatting with Razi, but it faded rather fast. That was weird. Maybe it was a ward to help them feel protected in a certain place? He had always felt the most protected at the bowling alley.

 Once they got to the castle, they were introduced to a woman that the big man called Professor McGonagall. Harry sort of remembered her from when she visited with Dumbledore. She looked as impressive as she did before.

 She was giving some speech he didn’t pay much attention to, instead, he was looking around and trying to see if the girl was around. He’d prefer to avoid her, definitely.

 They had to wait for a little while in the room, while Ron was wondering about the sorting.

 “It can’t hurt. Can you imagine parents letting their kids be hurt?” Harry asked Ron softly when he mentioned his brother saying it hurt.

 “Nah, guess you’re right mate… you doing alright?”

 “Yeah.” Harry agreed quietly. “Just hope this ends sooner than not.” A handful of ghosts came through the walls then, all chatting about something.

 “Oh!” New students said one of them, acting incredibly surprised… and remarkably like JD when they were acting innocent. Harry’s eyes narrowed as he watched the rest of the interaction.

 “That looks staged,” he told Ron as McGonagall came back in. Ron blinked and then looked thoughtful.

 “Huh. I suppose it was. Weird.” Ron shook his head but followed McGonagall without much more thought. Harry just thought it made sense for it to happen like that. Introduce the kids to ghosts early so they didn’t freak out later.

 There was a hat on a stool in front of everyone in the huge hall they entered. Harry felt nervous, staring at it before it suddenly began to sing.

 As it sang, Harry just stared, feeling shocked and confused. That was… that was weird. What?

 “We just have to try on a hat?! I’m going to kill the twins- they went on about wrestling a troll!” Ron grumbled.

 “That hat just sang,” Harry said, blinking. He shook his head. “Magic, right. At least it sounded better than JD’s death metal.”

“What?” Ron asked.

 “A type of music,” Harry told Ron. The two watched as people went up to the hat and said hat would shout out names. Some took awhile, and others were fast.

The girl who had accidentally triggered a panic attack was named Hermione Granger apparently, and she went into Gryffindor which was the House of the Brave. Ron looked horrified and Harry just hoped he got into Hufflepuff as he wanted.

 Malfoy went into Slytherin, something he also decided he wanted to avoid.

 When his term came, everyone was whispering in awe and shock as he walked up to the stool, trying to ignore everyone as he sat down, focusing on Ron who was looking at him and mouthing encouraging things.

 When the hat was dropped on his head, it blocked everything. Wow he was small

“ _Well, well, well. What an interesting mind…_ ” mused the hat on his head. Harry took a quick breath in surprise and gripped the seat of his stool. “ _Such a strong mind, such talent… oh, what interesting people you know young Mr. Potter… now where to put you…_ ” Harry’s mind turned to Hufflepuff, the loyalty his mother showed to him and Grace, the fact she worked so hard for him and Grace to be happy. He thought of Sheriff Hunt and her strengths, her hard work. Of the people in Havenfall and how strong they were, their loyalty to one another, even if they didn’t like each other. Like the time JD’s brother rolled into town and they turned him away. Even Luce.

 “ _Well, seems I know the answer._ ” The hat said. “ _Better be…_ HUFFLEPUFF!” Harry let out a sigh of relief even as what felt like shock gripped the hall. McGonagall removed the Hat, but her face was shocked Harry noticed, the boy standing up and ignoring the shocked looks.

 And then Ron began clapping. And soon a yellow and black table burst into cheers and shouts. Harry sat down at the table with a grin, next to a boy named Ernie who shook his hand happily. Harry grinned and waited for Ron’s sorting, feeling very nervous.

 Ron himself felt nervous, sitting underneath the hat. He didn’t know what he wanted. He knew what Harry had said about loyalty, about doing something different… and…

 “ _Well if you’re sure… better be… HUFFLEPUFF._ ”

**Meanwhile in Havenfall…**

 Prim propped her head on her hand, staring at the wall of the bar. She was already missing her kid terribly. Barely eight hours ago she’d dropped him off- though everyone thought it was yesterday- and all she wanted to do was see him again.

 “Hey, why the long face?” Asked one of the men at the bar. She gave a half smile.

 “Hello, Stan. I’m just… a little tired. A little sad. My kid’s gone off to school now and I’m feeling old.” She joked. The man laughed.

 “Eh, you can say your old when you're my age. Your kid will be fine, yeah? He got into some special boarding school I heard?”

 “Yes, he is.” Prim agreed. Very special.

 “Well then, he’ll be fine! He’ll have a bunch of stories to tell and fun new things to try. And you can have some fun, huh?” He teased and Prim laughed.

 “Thanks, Stan. Want your usual drink?”

 “I’d love it, thank you.” The old man smiled at her and she grinned back. Diego who was sitting near Stan gave him a look.

 “Mr. Lee, need I remind you that you are not to drink too much?”

 “Bah, let me have fun. When you get to my age you take what you can get.” Prim giggled at the two, smiling to herself.

 Harry would be just fine.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to dedicate the small part at the end to Stan Lee, may his legend live on.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I do want to address the part with Hermione, Now, before anyone says anything- Hermione is the beginning is an annoying and bossy little girl. I like Hermione!! She's an awesome character and a sweet kid. I really do like her!! I just also know that neither Ron or Harry would like her in the beginning. I needed a solid reasoning for this dislike when I put the boys into Hufflepuff and the idea of her accidentally triggering a panic attack came to mind. So here we are!! Don't worry- she'll be best friends with Ron/Harry soon!!
> 
> Small plot point:
> 
> Why no Goyle or Crabbe? The Malfoy family lost a lot of clout with their bull with the seat. Meaning the boys don't want to be near Draco, too dangerous for their standing in the house.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry and Ron grinned at each other as Ron sat down next to Harry, nudging his shoulder. 

“This is going to be spectacular!” Harry said cheerfully. “My mother will be happy I’ve made a friend and gotten into the house I wanted.”

“Even if she doesn’t understand the houses?”

“Even then.” Harry laughed. After the rest of the sorting, Dumbledore stood up to say a few funny words and food appeared on the tables. Harry squinted at him. “He’s either crazy or he’s messing with everyone.”

“Or both.” Joked a brown-haired boy. He offered his hand. “Justin. It’s nice to meet you- I read a few books but I assume you’re not like what they say?”

“Not at all. My aunt Grace read those and made fun of them. My mother was angry and is discussing taking some of them to court.” Harry sighed. “Especially the Tales of the Boy-Who-Lived. Mom is furious she never found them before.” 

“My sister has a few of those books,” Ron remarked, chuckling at the horrified face of Harry. “Easy. Mom made sure she didn’t take it too seriously. Reminded her it was a story and that was that.” 

“Where were you raised?” A slightly snooty looking boy said, introducing himself as Zacharias. 

“America. My biological mother had a cousin who lived there who took me in after some unpleasantness with my maternal aunt and uncle.” Harry replied. “I have a companion animal thanks to panic attacks that occur occasionally thanks to them- he’s a dog named Spot.”

“Interesting,” a boy who said his name was Ernie Said. “He tame?”

“Of course. We don’t know what breed he is other than some magical one but he’s very tame.” Harry said. 

“Then there’s no problem,” Zacharias said, sounding bored. “You speak well Harry.” 

“My mother’s named Primrose and she was often teased for being ‘Prim and Proper’ as a child. In turn, she began acting like it to annoy those who bullied her. I picked some mannerisms up.” Harry said stiffly. He picked at his food. It was very delicious but he found he missed his mother’s cooking. “Is that curry?” He asked, nodding to a bowl a little further down.

“Ah, you would like… oh wow no.” Justin covered his face while Harry laughed at Justin, taking some of the curries as Ron handed it to him.

“My aunt and uncle hated my heritage. My mother, however, hunted down an Indian woman to teach her how to cook traditional foods for me.” He said calmly. “I do love it, and I will tell you if you are treading the line.” 

“You’re being quite open.” Zacharias Said. 

“I have panic attacks and nightmares. Better warn you now than in the middle of the night.” Harry replied. 

“Makes sense,” Ron said, eating a large serving. “I was nervous earlier about the one you…” he winced, realizing Harry may not want to talk about it but Harry just pressed on.

“It is nerve-wracking. I understand.” The talk turned back to family and he learned that all but Justin, another boy named Wayne who was rather quiet and himself were purebloods that year- a surprising thing given the acceptance of all from Hufflepuff. The girls- Megan Jones, Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbot- were pureblood as well which was just as odd.

“What does your mother do for a living?” Zacharias Asked Harry after they talked about their own parent's jobs.

“She runs my estate though she refuses to touch that money. As well she works at a bowling alley-“ there were no looks of confusion so he kept going, “-that doubles as a bar. I know she’s considering going to school like she had originally planned before the death of her grandmother made her the guardian of her younger sister soon. My aunt Grace- her sister- graduates from muggle school this year.” Harry shrugged. “I hope she does. She always wished to go to culinary school.”

“She gave it up for her sister?” Justin Asked.

“Full scholarship- meaning her schooling would have been paid and everything. But she chose her sister.”

“A true Hufflepuff.” A kid near them said. Harry jumped and realized almost the entire table had been listening in. Cedric, a little further down, looked somewhat embarrassed but smiled.

“It’s so we can know if the first years are okay,” he told Harry upon seeing the look. “Make sure they’re okay at home and stuff. Also…”

“Harry Potter,” Harry said dryly. America had prepared him for celebrity gossip.

The feast lead to dessert appearing, something Harry wasn’t as fond of given he recognized little. He had something that looked like a pie that tasted pretty good.

“You like treacle tart?” asked Ron. Harry blinked.

“I have no idea what I’m eating but it tastes excellent,” he admitted.

“It’s a traditional British dessert.” Justin offered. “A tart.”

“...To me, tarts are like mini pies. Not this.” Justin laughed at Harry who rolled his eyes, grinning.

After their dessert, Dumbledore stood up to give news.

“Welcome all to Hogwarts!” he said in a booming voice. “As you are all undoubtedly full and tired, I will keep this brief! Our caretaker Mr. Filch has a list of items that are banned on his door that you may all see, while our Herbology Professor, Professor Sprout, would like to remind everyone that Greenhouse Three is not to be trifled with.” His face and tone turned serious after a moment.

“As well, I would like to inform students that Professor Snape’s probation period is over. He will be allowed to take points and issue detentions once more.” A black-haired professor sneered at the students. A professor in a turban was near him and Harry felt his forehead suddenly ache. He winced and reached up to grab it.

“You alright?” Ron asked. Harry shrugged.

“Headache.”

“As well, for this year,” Dumbledore said, “There is a corridor on the third floor that is out of bounds due to issues concerning a possible nest of some sort of breed of doxy that is particularly dangerous.” 

“Doxy?” Harry asked Ron quietly.

“A pest. Their bite is kinda venomous.” Ron said, shrugging. “They’re not all that bad but a big pest at times.”

“Huh.” Harry blinked as a Prefect (whatever those were. He assumed it was kind of like what an RA was from his mom’s description of what they were when they’d been watching some show with them in it) came towards them.

“Hello! I’m Susie Danvers!” the girl said cheerfully. “If you could just follow me please?” The first years followed her out of the hall and down a few hallways, Harry feeling somewhat overwhelmed by how many turns they took when they came to a bunch of barrels on a wall. “This is the entrance to Hufflepuff!” Susie said in a clear voice. She rapped her fist on one, singing along, “He-l-ga Hu-ff-le-pu-ff.” A barrel in the middle seemed to grow and open up, leading to a large room that was very earthy, with the scent of earth and water saturating the room. The doors were round, and Harry whispered to Justin- the only one who may know what he said- 

“Hobbit holes.” Justin burst into snickers as Harry looked around and saw how open the room was, light streaming in through high up windows and portraits that were moving covering the walls.

“You hit the wrong one or do it in the wrong way and you’ll be soaked in vinegar,” Susie told the first years about the barrels. A bark distracted her and Harry grinned.

“Spot!” he dropped to a knee to hug the dog who ran up to him, licking his face.

“He’s a handsome pup, Mr. Potter,” Susie said with a smile. He grinned up at her as she turned to the rest. “Now, we have two dormitories. One for those who consider themselves female, and one for those who consider themselves male. The girls are on the right, boys on the left.” Susie recited carefully. “As well, I would like to inform you that Professor Sprout holds a weekly meeting for the House so people can air their grievances and deal with other issues. She is not here right now as it is the beginning of term but she will have a one-on-one meeting with you next week to ask you questions.”  Susie explained.

The boys went up to their room, discovering it was very airy with nice windows and desks and plants everywhere. Spot had his dog pillow beside a bed with Harry’s trunk at it- right under a window. Harry grinned.

This was going to be interesting.

-0-

Their first day of classes, Harry was a little surprised by the food on the table in front of them.

“Going to have a full English?” Wayne asked as he loaded up his plate.

“I usually tend to stick with cereal in the morning,” Harry said, blinking at the options. “Or toast. Mom usually works days so it’s busy in the morning.”

“Well, we have time now,” Ron said. “Want to try anything?”

“... I feel that Dr. Diego would come here to yell at me himself if he knew what I could possibly be eating so I will stick with toast and fruit.” Harry said, eyeing the foods.

“Dr. Diego?” Justin asked.

“My mom’s friend from back home- well, her boss’s friend who she speaks to a lot and considers a semi-friend anyway. He’s the town’s doctor- healer,” Harry said to the looks from those, not in the know. “He is very big on healthy eating. I think he has a heart attack when my mother and JD- her coworker- get bored and make… strange combinations out of bar food.” Harry shuddered, remembering some of those combinations.

Professor Sprout- a plump woman with dirt all over her robes- came down to hand them their schedules then.

“As well, today I would like you all to come one at a time to the office I have in the common room after supper. We will have a short meeting, alright dears?” she asked with a smile. The first years agreed and went to their first lesson which was Charms.

The professor was a small wizard named Professor Flitwick who squeaked at getting to Harry’s name and fell off a stack of books. Harry did not want that to set a precedent for the first week at Hogwarts but had a horrible feeling it would.

At least after that, Professor Flitwick did not treat him any different. Instead, he acted as if Harry was any other student as he began teaching them Charm theory- explaining that Charms were some of the more dangerous pieces of magic.

“What not many people know is that most curses- even those you learn in Defense Against the Dark Arts- are actually Charms.” the Professor said to the class. “Charms are the base for curses, jinxes, hexes and so much more. Even more, there is much difficulty in how a Charm can be cast as one mispronounced word can lead to death. As such, we do not do practical magic for a few weeks at the very least.”

He went through the syllabus with them, explaining his plans and Harry diligently took notes while Ron scowled at the pages of his own notes and the syllabus He hated taking notes.

“Are you okay Ron?” Harry asked him in a quiet voice while Flitwick was going through something.

“How can anyone read when it’s all floating around?” He asked, cross.

“...Are you dyslexic?” Harry asked, remembering a boy in his class with a similar problem who was dyslexic.

“Huh?” 

“It’s a learning disability,” Harry said, unaware Flitwick was near them. “The words really float around for you?”

“...yeah.”

“I think there’s like special books… no wait, magic…”

“We will give you the best help we can Mr. Weasley,” Flitwick suddenly said, in front of them. The boys blushed. Flitwick was keeping slightly quiet as he spoke. “But please, pay attention. I do have a dyslexic Ravenclaw in the fifth year who can spell your books for you Mr. Weasley but again…”

“Sorry, sir.” The boys said. They paid attention the rest of the period and Flitwick gave Ron the Ravenclaw’s name- a Penelope Clearwater. Luckily, they passed by a group of Ravenclaws to their second class of the day- Transfiguration with the Gryffindors- when they found the girl. She spelled his books and taught him the fairly easily spell before heading to her own class. 

McGonagall took their explanation on why they were a little bit behind easily, stating she was used to first years being late, and she understood speaking to an older student well.

Their lesson with McGonagall jumped right into magic, something Harry raised his hand to ask about.

“Professor, in Charms we were told we would have to wait for a long time until we used magic. May I ask why the rules are different in this class?” he asked.

“Five points to Hufflepuff for the question,” McGonagall said. She looked pleased. “Few ask about this, and I always wait to see if they will do so. I am pleased someone has decided to.” Granger looked annoyed but interested in the answer, the Gryffindor girl holding her quill ready. “The truth of the thing is that unlike Charms, Transfiguration is a subject that when you start out, will rarely go wrong in that it can cause harm. Yes, some spells are dangerous and should not be taken lightly but the truth is that at this age, few students have enough power to cause harm with Transfiguration. Mostly it simply will not work. Charms, however, can go wrong in any possible way. Not because it is an easier subject- never that- but because it requires less forcing of the subject to change.” She turned her desk into a pig and back, too much applause.

“The desk’s natural state is a desk, not a pig. It fought me every step of the way to change and it was much easier to change back then not. As such, it requires great power to force this- power your bodies have but you are too young to properly focus. Charms are less tricky and more likely to go wrong.” She nodded. “As such, we teach you right from the start with Transfiguration so your bodies become used to forcing things to change.”

With that, they were given matches after a small series of notes- in which Harry made sure to help Ron with by showing him a cheat sheet Grace had made him of shortcuts for common words like ‘with’- and informed how to turn a matchstick into a needle.

No one but Granger got very close to it, but no one minded now that they knew why. 

Lunch was after that class. Harry was pleased to see more Indian style foods were there, which Cedric- who was sitting near them- explained as being a house elf magic thing. House elves apparently served the school and could tell when someone preferred certain foods over others.

“Like how a few of our Jewish students keep Kosher- the elves will recognize it and give them Kosher food,” he explained.

The next class after was History of Magic. Halfway through the class, Harry gave up on notes and began playing hangman with Ron. He just couldn’t do it.

Luckily- no one else could either.

Later after there was supper in which everyone chatted about their days. Spot had appeared out of nowhere, feeling Harry was stressed apparently.

“What kind of dog is he?” Cedric asked.

“I have no clue,” Harry said honestly. “He just appears when I need him.”

“He’s a big dog already,” Wayne said. 

“He’s a good dog.” Ron insisted. Harry grinned at his friend.

Yeah, he was.

After supper was when Sprout met with the First Years individually. She went in Alphabetical order so Harry was second last.

“Hello, Mr. Potter!” Said the woman with a smile as he came in with Spot. “Do you mind if I call you Harry?”

“No, my teachers back in America called me by my first name. It’s strange to be called by my surname.” Harry replied. “Though I understand the need for professionalism.” 

“Well then Harry, I will call you as such while we are one on one. Now, how was your first day?”

“It went well. No issues other than History being boring.” Sprout nodded.

“Yes, we can't change that though. The Board still deflects it every time we bring it up. Mr. Lupin tries but he’s one voice.” She shook her head. “Anyway- Can I ask you about your family?”

“There’s really not much to say. I have my mother and aunt- though she’s more of a sister than an aunt.” Harry shrugged. Sprout nodded.

“From what I read in your file- which was given to me and discusses the bare basics- I can understand that. Your mother treats you well?”

“Yes. She gave up a position at a college for me and Grace- my aunt. She works hard to give us food and pay our bills and her boss,” he controlled his blush firmly, “has always helped us when we needed it most. She refuses to touch the money she’s given for me any more then she has to.” 

“She sounds wonderful.” Sprout said kindly. “You don’t worry about her dating anyone at all? I understand some children worry about their parents falling into a new relationship when they’re here.” 

“No,” Harry said, shaking his head. “She wouldn’t date anyone who didn’t like me or Grace. I doubt she would date anyone, not in our sphere of…” he frowned, trying to think of the word. “Social sphere.”

“Like who?” Harry shrugged at Sprout’s question. It was weird thinking of his mom dating at all. “Well then, I’m glad your happy Harry. Are you looking forward to any particular class?”

“I’m looking forward to an elective I saw. Care of Magical Creatures.” Harry admitted. Sprout laughed.

“You like animals?”

“Love them.”

“Well then, I suggest chatting with Hagrid, our groundskeeper. He knows all about animals and he was… friends with your biological father.” Harry froze.

“Oh…”

“He’s a good man.” Sprout said. “A lovely one. He’ll like chatting about animals most though.”

“That’s okay. I love animals.” The rest of the meeting was just her making sure he knew how to use a quill- and her expressing interest in his notebooks and pens. Flitwick has mentioned them to her and both were interested in that he used them.

“It’s easier,” Harry said. “I’ll use parchment for assignments and stuff but I like pens and notebooks for notes.”

“Understandable.” Sprout said, nodding. “Parchment has magical properties which is why we use it still but a notebook and pen sounds much easier!” 

“It is!” Harry Agreed. The session was over after that and he went up to his room, letting Ron have his own chat.

Ron came back pensive, laying down on his own bed.

_ Your brothers are great people but you are a great person as well. You don’t need to prove it.  _ Sprout had told him, followed by her telling him not to listen to his mom when she compared him to Percy. That he was his own person. 

Ron sighed. 

He didn’t know what to think about that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!  
> Plot Points   
> -I changed the painful death thing because I feel that with a sudden change in seats of the board of directors that they would pay more attention to Hogwarts thanks to more attention on them. They agreed to let Dumbledore house the stone but not give that speech.  
> -Yes, Binns is still around thanks to greedy board members.  
> -Ron is dyslexic! I love this headcanon but I always disagreed the teachers wouldn’t know what to do- at least Flitwick would know someone who could help!


	8. Chapter 8

Harry had experience with bullies. Even after the old counselor was fired for letting bullying happen, he was still picked on a little. Being small, having an accent or just being related to his mom caused it. 

That’s why he didn’t respond to Malfoy much when the kid tried to taunt him. He was used to it- and some of his insults made no sense.

“I really don’t get them.” He told Ron when the redhead would get offended. “Which annoys him- haven’t you see it? When you take away his power with words, what does he have?” Malfoy didn’t have many friends from what Harry saw. He heard a few rumors it was because his dad was illegally holding the Black seat that made a lot of people turn them away. To scared for their own seats or fortune. Harry thought that was a little rude to judge a kid for his father’s actions but…

Malfoy was a little brat and it was hard to take him seriously when it was just him trying to start fights. No one would help him with antagonizing Harry- at all. Once, Zabini- another Slytherin- told Malfoy to smarten up because he was embarrassing his house.

He stopped with the fights after that. Still was insulting though.

“He’s still a bloody git,” Ron told Harry one morning, after Malfoy had insulted the pair, “But I kinda feel sorry for him. He’s got like no friends.”

“Which is why it’s easy to shrug it off,” Harry told Ron. “Excited for flying lessons?”

“Yeah!” Ron said, grinning. “I love flying, and Quidditch.” Harry laughed at his friend. 

“I’m happy you do,” Harry told him. 

“Happy for what scarface?” Malfoy said, coming up behind them. Ron and Harry traded looks. Apparently, Malfoy was done with his breakfast and had decided to come to bug them again.

“I am pleased that my friend Ronald has an interest in an athletic event,” Harry said, forcing his tone into the highly formal one his mom used a few times. Mostly when dealing with Luce. Malfoy scowled at them.

“Trying to sound like your betters Potter? Everyone knows you were raised by muggles who live in the middle of nowhere.”

“I was raised by a mother who was offered a place at a school free of charge due to her skills, though she did give it up to raise me and my aunt as well as she is a muggle who lives in Indiana, yes.” Harry replied. Malfoy’s face went a little red in his anger. He glared at Harry and Ron who was holding back his laughter. Harry was well aware of doublespeak- Luce enjoyed using it against his mom and aunt. It was just that it was as easy to turn the table when you knew what to look for.

“Malfoy!” a voice shouted and Granger came stomping up to the Hufflepuff table. Granger had made a name for herself as a know-it-all. She was very much a teacher’s pet who was eager to please. Harry mostly ignored her- she was annoying but given they were not in the same house she didn’t annoy him too terribly much. “Where is Neville’s Remembrall?” she demanded. Malfoy sneered at her.

“None of your business.” Harry frowned as Spot- who had developed the habit of coming to breakfast so he and his roommates could sneak him treats- growled softly.

“His grandmother sent it to him, so I ask you to give it back,” Granger said, glaring at Malfoy who scoffed.

“If Longbottom wishes to have it back, he can be a Gryffindor and-” Spot barked suddenly, and with a flash of light, was in front of Malfoy, his mouth on Malfoy’s robe and ripping it. “AHHHH!” Malfoy shouted as Harry jumped up.

“Spot! No!” The teachers came down- Sprout, McGonagall and a black-haired professor who sneered at them. Snape, Harry thought his name was. “Spot, drop-” Spot pulled away and dropped a ball on the ground.

“Neville’s Remembrall!” Granger said, looking shocked.

“Excuse me, Miss Granger but this is Mr. Longbottom’s?” McGonagall asked, seeing the ball.

“Yes Professor. After the flying incident yesterday. Malfoy took it and said he would break it or hide it.” Granger said. “I was trying to get it back…” McGonagall leveled a look at Malfoy that made him wince.

“I believe Mr. Potter-” Snape suddenly spoke up, his voice almost a sneer as he spoke Harry’s name. “-should be keeping a better eye on his… pet.”

“It seems as if his dog is smarter then most would understand,” Sprout shot back. “If he is able to find a stolen object so easily.” She set a heavy gaze on Snape who scowled at her.

“The dog could have-”

“But he did not,” McGonagall said, ending it. “What type of breed is he Mr. Potter?”

“I don’t know. We got him at a magical companion animal place- he’s some magical breed but they never figured it out.” Harry shrugged. “It is possible he is a… protector of sorts. As Malfoy and I do not get along thanks to his insults- as many others would agree he does do so-” Granger nodded, as did Ron and even a few Ravenclaws at the table next to them were nodding to, making Snape’s face sour even more. “Spot may have felt my dislike and reacted to find… what didn’t belong to him?”

“It is possible,” McGonagall agreed. She looked at Malfoy who was a little pale. “I believe we need to have a chat, Mr. Malfoy… and Professor Snape, I ask you to come with me.” Snape leveled a glare at Harry who frowned in confusion. That was a familiar glare…

“He reminds me of Luce,” Harry remarked to himself.

“Whose Luce?” Ron asked, smirking as he watched Malfoy be dragged off.

“My aunt’s boss. She’s not the nicest person towards my mother or aunt. For some reason, she hates them and me by extension. She’s always trying to spread rumors about us and talks bad behind our back.” Harry shrugged as Sprout frowned and Granger blinked, looking shocked.

“And she’s your aunt’s boss?!” Granger asked in shock.

“Yes, it isn’t pleasant.” Harry shrugged. “Perhaps you should get Longbottom’s Remembrall back to him?” Granger blinked but nodded, picking it up. She hesitated for a second.

“...I’m sorry I caused you to have a panic attack on the train,” she said in a fast breath. “That Prefect scolded me for it… and I did research and… I’m sorry.” she blushed and scurried off, obviously unused to apologizing for anything. Harry blinked, surprised.

“That was nice of her.” Sprout remarked, sounding warm. “Now, Mr. Potter- please keep an eye on Spot a bit better?”

“I will Professor. I didn’t know he could do that…” Harry looked at Spot who just wagged his tail. 

“It was Bloody Brilliant!” Ron said.

“Mr. Weasley.”

“Sorry professor.”

-0-

Flying lessons were really interesting. They were paired with the Ravenclaws and had a much less worrisome lesson then the class the day before. The only fascinating thing was when Harry’s broom snapped right into his hand right away. Ron had a little more issue with his, but they had their brooms in hand soon enough.

After the basics, they ended up being allowed to fly around a little themselves and Harry noticed how… easy it was. It was like his body just knew what he needed to do. It was brilliant!

“I believe you may be a natural Mr. Potter!” Madame Hooch told him while watching him fly around. “Fascinating!” She sounded pleased as Harry landed, feeling exhilarated and happy. Ron was grinning up at him, happy for him while Zacarias looked annoyed and the others were just impressed.

Supper was filled with that talk, the Captain of the Quidditch team even asking if he played when he heard he was a natural.

“No. I was never on a broom before today.” Harry said, shaking his head. 

“Well then, we need to see if you’re any good next year if you willing,” the Fifth Year said. 

“That would be splendid,” Harry said, grinning. It was a great end to the day.

Which made the next day the worst.

-0-

“Potions class today,” Ron said, checking the schedule. The entire first year traded looks. They were all worried about what the class could bring. The rumors from the older years were bad, and he seemed to dislike Harry the most.

“Umm, Potter?” a voice said from behind them. They both looked over their shoulders to see Granger. They had just finished their second transfiguration class with the Gryffindors, and Granger seemed to watch them a lot during the class.

“Yes, Granger?” Harry asked politely. “Is there something you need?”

“No, umm… There’s a spell that I found that records what people say.” Granger said. She handed Harry a piece of paper. “Here, I hope he doesn’t… but…” She frowned. “His actions were not of a teacher. I heard McGonagall tell Sprout he kept trying to blame you.”

“Where did you hear that?” Ron asked, confused. She blushed and he barked a laugh while Harry read the spell. “You were eavesdropping!”

“No!” She went red and huffed, stomping off.

“Granger!” Harry called out. She stopped to turn around. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling. She left and the two Hufflepuffs went to their class, worried.

Snape started the lesson with a lecture, one Harry was trying to write down. However, Snape focused on Harry almost right away. 

Ron, seeing this, cast the spell Granger had given them.

“Potter! Where would I find a beozar?!” Snap snarled.

“...I believe it would be in the stomach of a goat sir.” Harry responded.

“What would happen if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?” Harry frowned. 

“I… isn’t it a sleeping potion of sorts?” Harry asked slowly, trying to think. The Ravenclaws were all frowning as were the Hufflepuffs. 

“What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?” Snape asked. Harry frowned again.

“I am afraid I don’t know that answer, sir.”

“It appears fame isn’t everything,” Snape said mockingly. Ron and Harry traded confused looks. What was that about? 

Snape put the recipe for the potion up on the board without fanfare and demanded they make it. Harry spoke up then.

“Sir, didn’t you have the other class learn-”

“Two points for cheek Potter!” Snape snapped and Harry frowned. How was that cheeky?

It got worse when Wayne exploded his cauldron by accident and Snape said Harry should have been watching. That was when Harry had enough. Ron did as well. Both grabbed their bags and turned away from Snape.

“Where are you two-” Snape began, before Harry whirled around, glaring at the teacher. For a second, Snape went pale, staring at Harry directly in the eyes.

“My mother taught me respect was to be earned sir. Not given- you’re actions today have shown me that you are not a professor to respect if you act like this towards me without any sort of knowledge of who I am. I will be reporting this.”

“As will I.” Zacharias said, grabbing his things.

“Same,” Hannah and Susan said, Ernie and Justin also following their example.

“...I will be as well.” A Ravenclaw informed Snape who went paler. Soon, the entire class left the classroom, heading up to where the Ravenclaws said Flitwick’s office was.

Said professor was shocked when they came in, and then furious when he learned why. Ron gave him the paper with the transcription of what had happened on it made the small professor glare at it in rage. 

“I will be speaking to Dumbledore about this- all of you please use this time wisely,” he told the group who agreed. Ron and Harry went back to the dorms while the others went to the library. Harry was shaking from his nerves at being targeted from Snape, and Ron wanted to make sure his friend was okay.

Ron was reading the few chapters they needed for transfiguration in his new books. His parents had been informed of his learning disability and sent him some brand new ones so that the drawings in his second-hand ones wouldn’t be messed with by the spells he needed. Fred and George also heard about it and pitched in some money they had to buy Ron a special quill that could help him out as well. 

Ron did not want to know where they got the money. Percy was bad enough with his glares- and his constant help when they saw each other in the halls, making sure his books were spelled. It made him super glad that he was in Hufflepuff- he wouldn’t have to deal with that all the time!

He was busy concentrating while Harry played with Spot, he didn’t realize Harry had fallen asleep, exhausted by the stress, until Spot nudged him to get him to pull a blanket over Harry. Ron gave the dog a grin.

He was really a good dog.

-0-

“Severus Snape,” Albus said, his voice hard as he glared at the potions teacher. Said teacher scowled. “You were only recently released from probation and now you go right back to your same attitude!”

“Potter-”

“Did nothing!” Albus snapped, feeling fed up. “You immediately disliked him from the beginning, Severus, when he did nothing to warrant it whatsoever. Severus- if you keep doing this I will have to remove you from your position!” Severus stopped and stared at his mentor.

“What?” he asked.

“Your actions against a child who has never done anything against you paint you and this school in a bad light. As well, he is Harry Potter! What happens if he speaks to Remus? What happens if his classmates step forward?” 

“He’s just like his father! Letting his dog go after Mr. Malfoy- how will they react to the fact we did not punish him?” Snape demanded.

“Mr. Potter was not punished as his companion animal is a breed of a magical creature that we believe is a protector type. The dog’s actions are not the issue- Mr. Malfoy stealing a Longbottom’s possession and then taunting Harry Potter- heir to the Black Seat and the Boy-Who-Lived- is the problem, Severus.” Albus said. He focused on the political issues, knowing that his employee would not listen if he tried to appeal to his emotional side. Snape scowled, eyes hard.

He still wasn’t used to not having Lucius back him up when it came to these things. And for Albus to side against him!!

“Fine. I will ignore the boy.” Severus growled, turning to stomp out of the office. Albus let the fact he was alone be the reason for him covering his face.

“You should fire him and be done with it.” One of his predecessors said, sniffing. “He’s a rotten teacher.”

“Or have him teach the upper years only.” Another said. Albus just sighed. 

What could he do? He needed Severus near just in case. Severus had sworn to protect Harry but it appeared his schoolboy grudges…

No. Severus had good reason for disliking Sirius Black at the least, but James Potter hadn’t been a saint either. Not until sixth year, in which he tried to change his ways. Severus never let it go though, and Albus could- after a long discussion with Minerva about his teachings and beliefs after Harry went to live with his mother- see where he had gone wrong in letting the Mauraders do what they wish.

He would never hold it against Severus. But… well, the difference between a grown man holding a grudge against another grown man and a grown man holding that grudge against a child…

“I am getting to old for this position,” he grumbled. Maybe he should think about retiring… 

-0-

Harry met Hagrid in person the second Saturday of the school year. He had been walking Spot around the grounds while Ron was inside reading. The redhead had developed a love for reading after the discovery of his dyslexia and enjoyed reading strategy manuals or fiction.

As such, Harry got to walk around with Spot- enjoying some quiet time to himself for once.

Meeting Hagrid happened when the large man stumbled upon Harry and Spot while carrying a magical animal of his own.

“Oh! Mr. Potter,” the large man said. “Good ta see ya!” he nodded. “Walking yur dog?”

“Spot does need exercise from time to time,” Harry said, rubbing the dog’s head. “Is that… a baby hippogriff?”

“Aye! We have a herd of ‘em here on the grounds. This little one lost his mum though. Taking care of him right now fer a bit.” Hagrid gave a grin at Harry, and the young boy realized he couldn’t be scared of the large man. He was just… to kind. 

“I read about them!” Harry. “I love animals- my mom got me some extra magizoology books- though I think that was because she wanted to figure out what Spot is- and…” he blushed, realizing he was getting overly excited. Hagrid looked pleased though.

“Blimey! Wanna help me out then? I could always use the hand!” The large man grinned at Harry who grinned right back.

Harry followed Hagrid to his hut where he showed the young boy how to properly care for a baby hippogriff- and where Harry met Fang. A big dog who seemed wary of Spot, but easily warmed up to him.

“Yeh don’t know what kinda dog he is?” Hagrid asked the young boy who shook his head.

“No- no clue. I mean- other than some sort of protector dog…” Hagrid hummed as Harry bottle fed the baby hippogriff- who was named Buckbeak. He eyed Spot for a moment, eyes taking him in.

“...He ever vanish and set things on fire?”

“From time to time…” Harry said slowly. Hagrid laughed.

“Sounds like yeh got yurself a hellhound then!”

“..A what?” Harry asked.

“Hellhound. Protective buggers- strong, smart and can teleport places. Some say they go to Hell when they do, but most of those reports come from demons. Not many demons are nice. Knew a devil once though- good person. Had some trouble with a girl but good person nonetheless.” Hagrid shrugged. Harry bit his lip, looking down. 

A hellhound and a devil’s feather in his wand? What could that mean for him?

To distract himself, he looked at a newspaper Hagrid had. 

_BREAK IN AT GRINGOTTS_ was the title.

“Gringotts got broken into?” Harry asked.

“Aye. Funny thing that. Most aren’t stupid enough to try, but this guy got away.” Hagrid shook his head. “Can’t be anything good, mark my words.” Harry read the article, discovering it had happened on his birthday, and that the vault in question had been completely emptied.

That was… very strange. Harry was still thinking about it later when he went back to the castle and even told Ron about it, the redhead just as baffled.

“Doesn’t make sense mate,” Ron said, shaking his head. “But hey, we’re kids. None of our business.”

“Yeah,” Harry had to agree. “I doubt it’ll affect us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shortish Chapter cause like I wanted to get this over with to set the tone for future plot stuff. Honestly? First Year is kinda boring. Especially before the second half of the book.  
> Plot points:  
> -The thing with Snape, Sprout and McGonagall- Harry is not going to fall for the duel thing here. C’mon, he’s smarter than that. Also, the catalyst for it- Him showing up Malfoy during flying lessons- isn’t here. So, I engineered this. As well- it puts him in more conflict with Snape and Malfoy. Snape isn’t happy that his nemesis's son got off on this. But, magic school. I see them shrugging this off because magic is weird.  
> -CEDRIC IS ON THE QUIDDITCH TEAM. why am I being loud? Because I know some people might be annoyed or upset I don’t have Harry on the team. Well- no offense but I didn’t want him on the team First Year because… I just didn’t. Also- Cedric. Ten to one, they figure he’s an excellent Seeker next year, they decide to train him but like… they have Cedric and don’t need the Seeker. Maybe he’ll play Chaser, I don’t know.  
> \- Why do they shut Snape down? Well, it boils down to Sprout and McGonagall having gotten a really rude awakening about him when he was put on probation. Before- I can see them taking his side as colleagues and stuff because they wouldn’t be aware of how shitty he was. It’s a thing with some people- they work with someone long enough, they get defensive. And they both probably feel guilty about him being bullied as a kid so they get defensive. Now? They know how abusive he is, and are pouncing on any unfair behaviour. He does not like that.   
> -The little: Take away a word’s power thing comes from a teacher of mine. He was working in a jail for a while as a parole officer and one of the guys there called him a slang term that had caused riots before when used. He laughed at the guy and asked: What does that mean? It’s nonsense. No one bugged him again, because he took away their power with that word. I dunno but it feels fun to think about. I know it doesn’t really work that way all the time, but I’ve done similar things where I won’t let a word get the best of me.


	9. Chapter 9

Ron Weasley had never had a friend like Harry Potter before. Hell, he had few friends in general. Being the younger son of the Weasley family meant he tended to get branded the same as his siblings- though thankfully that hadn’t happened to him since he got into Hufflepuff and his disability was discovered. 

Harry was a nice kid with what his mom would probably call a big heart. He loved animals, had a blast doing magic and like to chat with Ron about anything. He also had the habit of double checking with teachers about everything.

“When you say five inches Professor, do you mean that as a maximum or minimum?” He asked McGonagall one day during class when she was assigning a topic.

“Both Mr. Potter,” McGonagall said after a moment. “While I do like the enthusiasm of some students, I prefer you all keep your essays short for now. When you reach sixth year is when I would like you to go beyond the structure.” Granger looked horrified, eyes wide. “I would talk to the other professors about their own thoughts on how much extra they are willing to accept.”

That got some great news coming from the teachers- many students had been embarrassed by other students who wrote so much for their papers. Learning that most teachers didn’t like too long papers made everyone pleased.

“I do enjoy a good extra ten inches for third year and up, but I prefer my first to second years having only five extra,” Flitwick said to the class when asked. “In my seventh-year class, thirty inches extra is the maximum.” 

Everyone else had similar thoughts- and while there was some backlash from people like Granger, most people adapted easily enough.

Harry was also interesting because of his family. He had this thing called a phone he usually kept hidden from people, as he didn’t want to deal with jealousy over it and because it technically was illegal. 

“If you look at it sideways,” Harry said. “It is magically made in the USA, just also technically muggle to. So… yeah.” He used the phone to contact his family a lot- mostly his mom and aunt, though he did talk to his mom’s boss and coworker who Harry grew up around too. Ron even got to chat with Prim- she insisted on it. She was really nice.

Grace was funny too, and he compared her to the twins from time to time. Just… nicer.

All in all, Ron was happy to have a friend like Harry.

Even when dealing with crazy animals.

“I don’t mind it, but c’mon Harry!” Ron said, as they walked back from a morning of dealing with Hagrid and his newest rescue- a mean-spirited cat-like thing with two tails Hagrid said was once a pet that was abandoned. “We keep getting bit and everything!”

“It’s fun though.” Harry defended himself. Ron sighed.

“Yeah, okay. It’s fun.” It kinda was. He never really interacted with a bunch of animals before, and he really did enjoy it. Mostly cause Harry was in love with all of them and loved talking about it. He lit right up, this big grin on his face. 

It was awesome.

“Were you two on the grounds?” asked a voice. Ron scowled as they turned to see Granger. She was so annoying- sure, not as annoying as he thought but still a know-it-all who seemed way to put out about the essay thing. 

“The groundskeeper lets us help him with his animals. I wish to do something with magizoology one day and enjoy helping him out,” Harry said politely, adopting his normal formal tone. 

“Oh.” Granger nodded. “That makes sense. I haven’t done much research yet on different magical careers…”

“I only did briefly. I really like animals.” Harry shrugged. Granger nodded and that was all they said, going their separate ways. The passed by one of the Patil twins who Harry shared greetings with in Hindi- the three of them had become somewhat friends given they all spoke it- and headed towards the Great Hall. “I wonder what my mother is planning on doing for Halloween this year…”

“Huh?” Ron asked. 

“Muggles dress up for Halloween,” Harry explained as they entered the Great Hall for lunch. It was Sunday, so most people were treating it like a brunch. “My mother mentioned in her latest message that she and JD were talking about something…”

“Will you be alright?” Justin asked as the two sat down. “I mean…” he made a motion with his hand. Ron frowned in confusion but Harry seemed to understand.

“Perhaps it seems callous but I mourn what they could have been. And I have a mother, aunt and other somewhat paternal figures in my life,” Harry told Justin. “My mother and I mourned them the first year I was with her, but… well, I want to live my life. I love them, yes but…”

“I get it,” Justin said. Ron cursed, realizing what they were talking about. He should have remembered…

“Is one of them really a paternal figure given how you talk about them?” Wayne asked in amusement. Harry went red and everyone burst into snickers. 

“I thought I would be safe from this.” He complained. “He’s cute and smart and nice, okay?” they just laughed harder.

It was really nice having Harry Potter as a friend.

-0-

_ Happy Halloween! _ The text said on Tuesday morning. Harry eagerly opened the pictures that had been sent as well, wondering what they were.

He burst into laughter upon seeing his mother dressed in leather, her hair dyed orange. She had thick makeup on and fake piercings. Meanwhile, JD was wearing a nice skirt, their hair combed over to look like it wasn’t half shaved, clear piercings put into the holes, and a very nice shirt and scarf.

“They swapped!” Harry laughed, showing it to Ron who laughed politely. “Just wait- you’ll meet them one day and see how crazy it is,” Harry told him.

“I believe you!” Ron laughed, the two going to classes. Most teachers seemed awkward around Harry who just sighed.

Of course.

At lunch, they overheard a few of the Gryffindor girls chatting.

“I can’t believe she ran off like that.” One said to the Patil twin in Gryffindor.

“Fay was really rude to Hermione.” Said the twin, her face twisting. “I hope she’s okay.”

“I think she’s crying in the second hall on the third-floor bathroom…” Harry frowned. That didn’t sound good.

“You guys hear?” Wayne asked them. “Dunbar called Granger a know-it-all with no friends and she ran off crying.” 

“That’s rather awful,” Harry said, frowning deeper.

“Maybe she just needs a good cry? I think she’d friends with Longbottom.” Ron suggested. “He might go and look for her soon enough.”

“I believe so.” Harry Agreed. But come dinner time- after their herbology lesson which Granger did not attend- she was still not around. Harry frowned and Ron sighed, feeling guilty a little. He’d said a few bad things about Granger himself- mostly when he was still holding a grudge against her for the train but… well, it seemed it was too much for her.

“Perhaps we should look for her?” Harry asked Ron. “I know she isn’t in our house but it doesn’t look like the Gryffindors are bothering.” His voice was disdainful and even some of the other first years agreed, everyone aware of the situation.

“Alright,” Ron said, about to stand up. They had just finished their food and the Halloween feast was casual enough no one would care if they left early. “Save is some dessert yeah?” He asked Wayne who nodded his agreement. 

The Great Hall doors burst open and their defense professor- a man named Quirrel who was extremely boring and had an awful stutter- came running into the hall.

“Troll! Troll in the dungeons!!!” He screamed. “Thought you needed to know.” He fell face forward and everyone was silent before the screaming started.

Harry felt his heart screaming as he tried to breathe, eyes widening. Barking filled his ears as Spot appeared in a burst of flame, sensing his distress. Ron was cursing and trying to keep Harry calm while everything was crazy around them. 

A loud bang caused everything to fall silent.

“Prefects! Lead your houses to their common rooms or to the designated safe zones,” Dumbledore said in a loud voice. “We will go deal with the troll. Seventh years, I ask you have your wands ready.”

He and the teachers leave then, heading quickly out while Susie and a few other prefects all gather up the Hufflepuffs. Harry manages to calm down enough to stumble along with them- at the back of the group with Ron- when he breathes out.

“Granger,” Ron swears loudly and the two boys look each other in the eyes before they break off from the group.

“Know anything about Trolls?” He asks Harry who grimaces. 

“A little. Enough to know that Spot will be our first time of defense. Very strong, not bright, head is a weak spot.” Harry recited. As they walked down the halls, Spot suddenly began growling. They froze, as a disgusting smell filled their noses. 

An ugly site passed by them- a large gaint dragging a club behind him. 

“Shit!” Ron said, the two ducking behind the wall, Spot following. The troll wandered off to another room and Spot began growling again.

“Oh no,” Harry said just as the screaming started.

“Granger!” Both boys cried out, running towards the bathroom. They got into the bathroom to find Granger cowering on the other side of the bathroom with the troll coming after her. Spot barked and attacked the troll. Harry ran over to Granger while Ron grabbed some debris to start throwing.

“Granger! We have to move!” Harry said, trying to pull her up but she was frozen in fear.

Ron begins them yanked out his wand upon seeing the troll try to go for Spot with his club.

He shouted the first spell that came to mind- a spell they had learned the day before in Charms.

The club was raised up, and remembering Harry’s words, he moved the club so it fell directly on the troll’s head.

The troll fell with a bang.

The three kids all stared at each in shock, while teachers came running in.

“What is going on here?!”

-0-

Minerva McGonagall was well aware of the fact that sometimes her Gryffindors weren’t the kindest children. She usually put a good stop to it- though she has to admit she had slacked before. Learning that Severus partially blamed her for never stopping her students and used it as an excuse why he joined the Death Eaters… well, it made her more aware of how bad it could get.

Still, she had never been aware of bullying inside the house!

“I have never been so disappointed in my Gryffindors,” she told the entire house. Fay Dunbar flinched as she was the reason Hermione Granger had been in that bathroom in the first place. And the reason the Hufflepuff students were refusing to let Hermione go back to her dorm, saying they didn’t trust the Gryffindors.

Severus has been too pleased by the fact that Minerva needed to face bullying problems in her own house. Child.

“I will be giving Miss Granger her own room. Head Girl Jacobson- you have lost your room for not dealing with this properly.” The Head Girl flinched and looked down. “Goodnight.” She left without another word and went up to her office where Pomona was waiting with whiskey. “You are a goddess.”

“I try.” The shorter woman laughed. “... do you think detention was too stern?”

“No, I believe they did disobey the headmaster and needed a detention. And us speaking to their parents.” McGonagall sighed, sipping her whiskey.

“This will be fun.” Pomona Said, shaking her head. “... was Severus too much?”

“Aye,” McGonagall replied, letting her accent deep through. “He’s gotta point bout me lettin’ to much go but…” She shook her head.

“A schoolboy with a grudge.” Pomona agreed. She sighed. “Albus blames himself.”

“Stupid men.”

“Agreed.”

“... do you know why Severus has a bloody leg?” Minerva asked Pomona.

“I assume he tripped or burned it with his potions. He’s always doing that.” Pomona shook her head in disgust. 

“Really stupid man.”

“Agreed.”

-0-

Harry, Ron, and Hermione found themselves hanging out more and more together. With classes all different this usually meant they hung out in the library or Hermione sat with them at the Hufflepuff table. 

Apparently knocking out a mountain troll together meant you were the best of friends afterward. Hermione even had some interesting ideas on animals and liked to go with them to Hagrid’s to meet all of his animals.

She and Ron found themselves often worried about how Harry seemed to adopt more and more of Hagrid’s love of dangerous animals. 

“He’s a beauty!” Harry said, cooing over what looked like a bundle of spikes. That were venomous. Spot was panting by his feet, unconcerned about the fact his master was petting a ball of death.

“This is just weird,” Ron Said. Hermione grimaced. She definitely had to agree.

The door to the hut opened up to reveal Professors McGonagall and Sprout.

“Even in’ Professors!” Hagrid said cheerfully. 

“Good evening Hagrid. Miss Granger, Misters Potter, and Weasley? Can you come with us please?” McGonagall asked and the three trades confused looks before doing so- Harry pouting about leaving the animal behind.

The three followed their heads of houses up a few floors in the castle, to an office that when the door opened up…

“Hermione!”

“Harry James Potter!”

“Ronald Bilius Weasley!” 

All three students went pale at swing their parents, the group all glaring, except for Mr. and Mrs. Granger.

Harry winced as Prim strode forward. She was wearing her bowling alley uniform and she looked furious.

“You ran towards a troll!” She shouted as a similar conversation was taking place with Ron and two redheads he assumed were his parents. Hermione was being hugged by hers.

“I… we knew Hermione might be in danger,” Harry said softly.

“Why didn’t you tell someone or a teacher?” Prim asked. She sounded scared as she went to hug him tight. “When I heard the news I was so scared, Harry! I was terrified!”

“I… I don’t know any adults here well yet and…” Harry breathed heavily and hugged his mom tighter. Prim blinked and sighed.

“I really hate the Dursley family and all your old teachers back in Surrey,” she told him, pulling away. Harry has issues trusting adults at times. He had been hurt by so many before… it was lucky he trusted her and the others. “Next time please go to a teacher?”

“I hope there won’t be a next time but I will if there is,” Harry responded. The two hugged again. Prim stood up to dust herself off as the other conversations wound down, the redheads coming over.

“Hello,” said the woman. “I’m Molly Weasley, and this is my husband, Arthur.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Prim said, shaking their hands. “I’m Primrose Evans though most do call me Prim.” She turned to the Grangers who smiled at her.

“Jean and Daniel Granger.” The man said, shaking her hand. “You look pretty young…”

“Harry is my second cousin. I took him in when his maternal aunt and uncle were declared unfit.” Prim said stiffly. The Grangers nodded and the adults began chatting while the kids gathered around each other.

“Your moms seem nice,” Hermione said.

“My mom is the best,” Harry said, grinning. Ron grinned too.

“My mum is amazing. Dad’s great too.” Harry shrugged.

“I have my mom. Don’t need a dad.” The group winded down a little and went back to collectively speaking to everyone. Kids included.

“So Harry, are you going to come home for Christmas?” Prim asked.

“Of course,” Harry said. “I would never miss the party at the alley.”

“Razi would miss you.” Prim teased and Harry ignored her firmly. 

“Are you and dad still going to go see Charlie?” Ron asked his mom who nodded.

“We are,” Molly said. “Are you and your brothers comfortable staying here?”

“Yeah,” Ron said, though he felt a bit sad when Hermione said she was going home to see her whole family. Maybe if he was in Gryffindor it would be different, but he was alone in Hufflepuff. 

“...How many sons do you have here at Hogwarts?” Prim asked Molly.

“Four, including Ron.” The older woman replied. 

“Well, if they wish, they are more then welcome to come home with Harry this year. I don’t mind having more children around at all.” Prim shrugged. 

“Oh! We couldn’t…” Molly hesitated while Arthur grinned.

“I think the boys would have fun! Though I insist we give you some money for food at least.” He told her. Prim nodded and it was hashed out between the adults while Harry and Ron cheered.

“As well, we can set up a Skype session for Hermione,” Prim said, nodding to the Grangers who beamed.

“Skype?” Arthur asked in interest.

“It’s a computer program that lets people talk face to face anywhere in the world,” Prim explained.

“Oh! Like a floo call!” Arthur nodded. Molly looked amazed.

“This is going to be the best Christmas ever!” Harry cheered happily.

Yeah, I did this because Christmas is coming up so we get a Christmas chapter up around the same time. We will have one extra chapter before then!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like and plot points:  
> -Essay thing! Most teachers I know have a maximum and a minimum they prefer. I can’t see Hogwarts being different- with so many students, having no maximum amount of inches is silly. Harry asking is because he is used to there being a maximum. So yeah. NOT A DIG ON HERMIONE. Mostly this was done because I remember some kid being scolded for three extra pages for an essay. The teacher had three classes of thirty students. Guy had no time to do shit. He hated those extra pages.
> 
> -I grew up calling adults my parents were friends with- or my friend’s parents- their first names without Miss or Mr or whatever. I never heard anyone say differently until like… I was sixteen, reading fanfiction and found out it was a thing.


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione Granger loved having friends. Ron was an avid reader- thanks to his dyslexia being discovered and the various charms he was given helping ease his reading skills. He enjoyed muggle fiction surprisingly and devoured her copies of Lord of the Rings in glee- though it was very slow going. Harry was so curious about everything that he liked looking up random things in the library, saying his mom’s boss Razi often did something similar when he was growing up- encouraging him to look through his books. 

Harry also had a phone he let her borrow- after explaining the somewhat illegal status of it. Not enough for a fine but enough to get side eyes.

She was very happy with her friends… even if it ended up like this at times.

“This is the forbidden corridor!” She hissed to Ron and Harry. Hagrid was happily leading them along. Spot was bouncing along himself, looking cheerful and wagging his tail.

“You want to bother telling them that?” Ron asked. “Harry heard three-headed dog and came running!” 

“And we’re following like ducklings.” Hermione huffed. 

“Harry likes animals and would end up a second Hagrid with none of his ability to shrug off danger,” Ron told the girl. “We have to keep an eye on this.” Hermione rolled her eyes as Hagrid opened the door to reveal a giant dog with three heads. Harry immediately began cooing.

“Such a big puppy! Cute puppy! So adorable!”

“...” Ron blinked at the dog suddenly gave way to a puppy as Harry cooed over him. “... the dog is kinda cute.”

“... you’re crazy as he is.” Hermione said. However eventually she ended up coping over the puppy, smiling big as she did so. Hagrid just beamed. 

Time went on and it got a little colder out, prompting Hermione to show off some of her fire skills and conjuring blue flames in a jar so they could be warm. Ron convinced her that it was a nice market to sell them to others- after Harry looked up the rules to find there was no actual rule against it.

“Think of the extra money for books!” Was all Ron had to really say. His twin brothers were impressed when they heard about it.

“Smart lad! Smart lass!” One said one day, appearing at the Hufflepuff table. Hermione often joined them over there- all of the house having declared her an honorary Hufflepuff given her status as a pariah in her house. Bullying was down but she was kind of shunned for drawing the teachers ire. 

“Other smart lad,” the other said, nodding to Harry. “Already coming up with…”

“... excellent business ideas.” The first said. Ron sighed.

“Fred,” he nodded to the second twin, “George,” a nod to the first, “what do you two want?”

“Well, Ronnikins-“

“-we’re double checking that-“

“-we are going to Harrykins house-“

“-for Christmas!” The twins grinned, but then twitched, looking at Ron for a second in shock. 

“You are. JD- my mom’s coworker- is a prankster themself and would love to share jokes but… muggle ones.” Harry told the twin who grinned and high fived. “Is Percy coming?”

“He’s worries about OWLs.” Both twins said. Harry has heard of the tests, and he nodded. 

“Understandable. My aunt- Grace- is graduating this year and worrying about her own tests. If he does come he may be able to trade ideas and tricks on studying with her.”

“Oh nice.” Fred Said, as George went off to tell Percy that. “We’ll see you around!”

“You’re going to regret having them around,” Ernie told Harry. Harry just shrugged. 

“It’ll be funny at least.” 

-0-

“If we’re not playing why are we going? Other than to cheer on your brothers which you probably don’t want to do.” Harry asked Ron as he dragged Harry and Hermione to the stadium.

“Because it’s Quidditch!” Ron threw his hands up and gave his friends a look. Hermione was less opposed to going then Harry who had wanted to hang out with Hagrid and Buckbeak. “We always go and see Hagrid Harry. I really want to do this.”

“...Okay.” Harry said after a moment. “You guys do always come with me.”

“Will you guys come with me to the library tomorrow for a study session that one of the Ravenclaws is putting on for muggle subjects?” Hermione suddenly asked.

“Sure,” Harry agreed. Ron frowned.

“I don’t know how good I’ll be but sure!” He grinned at Hermione who beamed back happily.

The three friends went to the stadium where Spot was waiting. None of them remarked on it- it was weird but it happened that he would randomly appear in different places where they went. He was just like that. 

Going up to their seats, Hermione sat with the Hufflepuffs again, getting drawn into a conversation with Zacharias. The pureblood enjoyed a good debate and liked speaking with Hermione.

“You should really just ask for a resort,” laughed Justin. “You could live with us!”

“Resorts aren’t allowed until third year,” Hermione said, looking annoyed. “I checked.”

“Kind of makes sense. Otherwise, a lot of people would want resorts so they could be with friends or with family,” Ron remarked.

“Good point,” Ernie said as Susan spoke up,

“My auntie said that is the reason for the rule. Some pureblood families kept demanding that their heirs were in Slytherin and raised a huge fuss so they slapped the rule on to stop them from demanding resorts.”

“That is quite interesting,” Harry mused. Hermione’s eyes were glittering.

“Are there any books about this?” she asked eagerly. “I love learning these sort of things!” The group chatted about it- or some did while the others watched the Quidditch game. Harry was watching said game, finding it interesting when a ball- a bludger came streaking towards them.

Screaming erupted from the group of Hufflepuffs as they dodge the rogue bludger. It kept coming though- right after Harry. 

Teachers booked it over to the stand, yelling as some of the older Hufflepuffs threw up shields to try and block the bludger. It was chaos.

It only ended when the ball was firmly destroyed and Harry was behind five different shield charms.

“...Ron, I don’t think I like Quidditch.” Harry choked out to his friend.

“It’s alright Mate. Not a big fan of it myself right now.”

-0-

“HE WAS ATTACKED BY WHAT?!” Albus flinched, pulling the phone away from his head. He had been thrilled to learn that the MUSA had developed magical based phones. Now they could give numbers to parents to contact them. 

And then he learned the downside.

“By a bludger Miss Evans. We believe it was cursed to attack him- we are devoting all our available resources to discover what cursed it.” Albus promised the woman.

“First a troll and now this? Professor Dumbledore, what sort of school are you running?” Miss Evans sounded very upset which was why he didn’t take her words to hear. She was just upset.

“I am sorry Miss Evans, but we are trying our best.”

“I understand Professor, but why is it always my son that is involved?” 

“I… believe it may be the fault of Lord Voldemort,” Albus admitted. He had to be honest here- she cared deeply and deserved to know what she was getting into. He wouldn’t tell her everything- she was a defenseless muggle after all. But enough would help.

“... If my son dies, I come after you with a knife Professor.” Miss Evans said. “I won’t pull him out- he’s never had friends before and I can’t separate them, but if he gets hurt and you could have stopped it I will kill you.”

“I will let you,” Albus promised, meaning every word. They hung up together and he sighed, removing his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. It had to be Quirrel who was the agent of Voldemort. But there was no proof other than his own suspicion and he couldn’t fire Quirrell without any obvious wrongdoing. He couldn’t even fake any evidence- with the curse on the position, there was no one else he could hire on such short notice.

Sighing, he pulled a bottle of fire whiskey from his desk. He was going to need it.

As he sipped his whiskey, he wondered if he’d done the right thing in having the stone brought to Hogwarts. While he did believe it was safer there- he was also aware of the fact that Voldemort would be drawn to it.

The darker part of him wanted to test Harry Potter with it but he restrained himself. He couldn’t let himself sink that low. It would be horrific if he did so and he refused to be that person.

He sighed and thought of the cloak he still had. He needed to give it back. The temptation it held was too much for him. He couldn’t… he couldn’t keep it here and not yearn for the third. He couldn’t keep it from Harry either- it was his after all.

The Prevelle Brothers, the greatest necromancers in the world. Before necromancy was branded as a Black Art. Albus grimaced. He wished he could change that but it was hard. Most referred to him as a Light wizard when the truth would always be he was Grey. He was able to use both arts with ease even if he was terrified of some of the Darker Arts. He had abstained for years until he went to Havenfall. He’d felt the darker energies in the air, felt how they protected the town.

He’d never known that Dark Arts could be protective which was what spurred him to look into the Arts once more. With that- using all of his magic- he felt more and more younger. Healthier. Less tired and exhausted. It lead to him questioning everything.

He was rather happy with that. It made his life more interesting.

-0-

The weeks until vacation passed by in a blur- other than Harry dragging his friends to the forest every once in a while to see animals. Those were terrifying moments and Ron swore his friend was nuts- in a fun way.

Hermione was just exhausted. Especially after the giant squid incident. She told Harry point blank she was never going near the lake with him again.

“Fair.” was all he was able to say to that.

“Your aunt is graduating this year?” Percy asked Harry a week before vacation. “She has study tips?” Ron noticed how frazzled his brother was and how terrified he looked in his eyes. OWLs was a big deal after all- it said if you could enter the proper classes for your future job choices. He immediately felt for his brother and planned on trying to get the twins to back off on pranking a little. 

“She does,” Harry confirmed. Percy nodded and that was that. They left Hogwarts in glee, Harry eager to see his family and introduce his friends to his aunt. 

He saw them on the other side of the platform once they pushed through the barrier- his mom dressed in her usual grey coat and skirt and his aunt in her pink coat and blue dress.

“Mom! Grace!” He shouted, running towards them- Spot galloping along the way. Hedwig was sitting on his shoulder as he threw his arms around his mom who hugged right back. Everyone stared at Proper Potter- as Malfoy had called him a few times- acting like a child.

“Harry!” Grace stole Harry from Prim and hugged him tight, laughing as she danced around with him- the Weasleys coming up to the small family.

“Pleasure to meet you,” the woman said with a smile. Percy offered his hand and she shook it.

“Thank you for opening your home to us,” he said. Prim laughed.

“You are more than welcome.” She told him. “I assume you are Percy?”

“Yes,” he said before Fred and George popped up.

“Nice to meet you!” they said at once, grinning.

“Fred and George?” she asked. They nodded together. Prim smiled at them, ignoring a dark look from a family of blondes who Harry noticed Draco approached.

The Malfoy family viewed the woman who had destroyed all of their standing in society coldly, glaring at her as she laughed with her ward and his friends. Lucius sneered slightly, eyeing her in disgust. A muggle. A common muggle destroyed everything. And he couldn’t touch her in America- she was protected there.

“Bye Harry! Bye Ron!” A bushy haired girl said before she went over to a pair of muggles who were waiting for her. He smirked then, thinking of a black diary.

Now all he had to do was make sure the Potter brat died in his attempt...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this short chapter. I had wicked writer's block but wanted to get this small bit out before the Christmas chapter so yeah...  
> Honestly- Harry is not picking up on the clues guys. There's a reason for that and it's that Dumbledore- instead of ignoring his darker side, is listening to it and is making healthy choices for once. So he's not forcing a confrontation. Of course- that won't mean there won't be chaos in the Hogwarts world for long...


	11. Chapter 11

Ron hadn’t known what to expect of Harry’s house. The portkey had landed them in their backyard and their house was rather small from what he saw. A large box thing he thought was called a truck was in the driveway as Harry lead him and his brothers into the house- his mom and aunt taking a moment to talk to one another. 

The living room was filled with comfortable pillows and the walls were covered with pictures. Some were of a redheaded woman and a dark-haired man Ron knew instantly were Harry’s parents while others were of Harry and his mom or aunt- along with some other people he didn’t know. Percy was looking around a little in awe while Fred and George were looking at the electronics.

“Mom said that you can share my room while Fred and George can share her room and Percy can either stay with us or with the twins.” Percy went pale upon hearing Harry and the twins grinned.

“If you don’t mind- I won’t put Percy through that,” Ron told Harry.

“Our own brother!” Fred said, clutching his heart.

“How cruel!” George moaned. 

“Well aren’t you two interesting.” a voice said, and Harry grinned, turning to see an older Indian woman. 

“Chetas!” Harry said, running over to hug her. “Why are you here?”

_ “I was cooking for your coming home,” _ the woman said in a different language. Ron thought it was what Harry and the twins often spoke- Hindi. 

“ _ Thank you!”  _ Harry said, grinning as Prim and Grace came in.

“Thanks for cooking Chetas,” Prim said, smiling at the woman who shrugged.

“Portkey sickness is hard.” Harry froze from where he was still hugging the woman while Prim’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

“What the fuck?” Grace asked.

“Language,” Prim said, staring at the Chetas woman while Ron and his brothers looked at them in confusion. “...How… what? You’re a witch?”

“Oh no.” Chetas laughed and suddenly- it was like a shift. Like she took a step forward but didn’t. One second she was human and the next she had scales and a forked tongue. “I’m a Naga.”

“...What?” Prim asked as Percy gaped.

“Naga can’t speak!” he said. Chetas laughed- an oily dark sound that made Ron shiver.

“The Naga you know are not true Naga. They are attempts of Wizards to harness our abilities.” She shook her head, suddenly back to the older woman appearance. “Ask Mackenzie- yes? She has tales of how werewolves were harnessed for wizards.”

“The Sheriff?” Prim asked. “Why would she…”

“She is a werewolf.” Ron felt like choking. Everyone knew werewolves were dangerous! But… if what this woman said was true- and he had a feeling she was speaking the truth. 

“Who else isn’t human in this town?!” Grace asked, eyes wide.

“Doctor is vampire, your boss is dijin and JD is devil. Oh and Luce is… something. She is very dangerous- very. Careful how you walk.” Chetas told them.

“...I need to sit down.” Prim announced.

Ron kind of had the same feeling.

“And to think Fred- Mum said we needed to not cause Miss Evans to break down.”

“Looks like her friends are doing that for us!”

-0-

“I had a very enlightening talk.” Razi did not like that tone. Prim was still rather formal in tone and mannerisms with him and JD but she was a little less so then she was originally. Unless she was annoyed.

“Sounds like it,” JD said, poking their head up to study her. “What’s wrong?” Prim grinned, showing all of her teeth.

“Chetas kindly informed me that the reason she had decided to cook for me was that she was aware of what portkey sickness was.” Razi froze as JD’s eyes widened. “I was quite surprised that the woman I thought was a little old Indian woman was aware of it. She had a few fun stories to tell me.”

“...I’m skinning that Naga,” JD announced. Prim’s eyes widened and then a flash of hurt crossed her face.

“So it’s true- and you never told me. Despite the fact I have a wizard child.” Prim said, her spine very straight.

“Prim- it’s not that we don’t trust you,” Razi said, holding his hands up. 

“Hell no- I would have said something as soon as I figured out Harry was a wizard-”

“Which took you until this summer.” Razi couldn’t help piping in. JD shot him a dirty look.

 “Dijin magic goes funny, okay?! I thought you were sick that time!” JD threw their hands up in disgust. Razi just smirked. “Anyway! I would have but it’s… mostly because Code Black and the MUSA have this hate on for us and it’s always a huge fight over who we belong to.”

“They watch families of magical kids very closely- and we didn’t want to alert them we were here.” Razi said, looking uncomfortable. “They lessened their gaze lately… which is because JD and I and Chetas have been hitting them with some pretty heavy magic we didn’t want to use around Harry- it can mess with a kid’s head fairly badly.”

“Pretty badly? It can cause a kid to go brain dead.” JD said, giving him a look. Prim went pale, reaching up to cover her mouth. Her eyes were full of pain and then they hardened.

“Thank you for informing me. As well, thank you for waiting until my son was out of the country.” she stood up and nodded. “I will be back tomorrow with all of the boys. Fred and George wish to meet JD given I have spoken of their antics. I simply ask you do not teach them any to dangerous antics.” JD grinned at that as Prim left, back straight and murder in her eyes- directed at Code Black and the MUSA though.

Razi- for a second upon seeing her protective rage and understanding of what they had suffered- regretted. He regretted his choice made years ago that he would not consider a relationship with her. At all- he had ignored any feelings of attraction and in a way, used Harry’s puppy crush on him to deflect any interest from Prim, though it was obvious she actually didn’t feel that way anyway- she viewed him as a friend and a boss. 

He had chosen not to consider it when he considered the fact that Prim was a mother. She was a mother to a young wizard who could not be around a dijin full time. His magic would warp Harry’s- corrupt it and change it. Even bound as he was, it would destroy Harry. His magic was just too much- it was why when a dijin had a wizard child born to them by a human they would leave. It was cruel- but it was better then their child being forced into Obscurial form because their parent’s magic had warped their own.

Razi had made that choice. Harry was getting older and more stable in his magic but he could not cross that line now. It was too late.

“She’s got guts and a spine of steel.” JD remarked, grinning. They pulled out their phone. “I’m calling Mac.” Razi chuckled. 

Yeah- the others should know. He could watch all their crushes on Prim and watch them moon over her. It would be funny to see her not notice and the three not notice the others. He and Chetas had a bet going on for how long it would take any of them to say anything.

-0-

The bowling alley was dressed up in its tacky decorations as always, Harry noticed as he entered the premises with the Weasleys and his mom. Grace was working- though now she was eyeing Luce even more- and wouldn’t be over until the party started. Chetas was taunting JD who looked horrified, leaning away from her.

“No- your dad-”

“NOPE!” JD jumped over the bar to head towards the kids. “Hey Prim- twins. Yes. How about I teach you all the tricks I know. Yes.” They grabbed Fred and George to drag off to the arcade, looking terrified.

“Are you sad I remember when you first got thought to have a goat head?” 

“... The Jersey Devil?” Prim asked in shock. Harry covered his mouth, eyes widening as JD scowled at Chetas.

“I liked you better before I found out you were yet another side piece of my dad’s.” Chetas shrugged, smirking. 

“I am six hundred young devil. I have been many as you say side pieces.” 

“Ew.” Harry couldn’t help but say. It was like his grandma saying that. Super gross. Ron was making a face as well as Diego looked up from his drink. 

“Six hundred?” The doctor asked.

“Yes. And yes- I am aware most of my kind do not live past.” Chetas shrugged. “Unlike immortal vampires, near-immortal devils and dijin and long-lived werewolves- who may be immortal- we have end date.”

“Immortal?” Percy Asked. “But-“

“Wizarding world is wrong.” Chetas Said.

“She’s right. You’re basing your thoughts on the wizard magic based versions of us.” Diego told Percy. “We existed first and then wizards…”

“Got jealous.” Razi offered up. “It doesn’t help that a few wizards come from or bloodlines and get jealous or upset they don’t have our powers. Or that their parent can’t stay with them in fear of hurting them.”

“That sounds… fascinating.” Percy remained. Ron and Harry traded looks and left Percy to his interrogation while Harry’s mom worked on cleaning. 

“Oh, by the way, Harry-“ Razi remarked, shooting him a smile. “It’s great to see you again.” Harry felt his chisels flush and he had to give a shaky smile back.

Ron was nice enough not to snicker until they were doing some bowling.

“Shut up. He’s handsome. And nice.” Harry told his friend.

“He’s also old.” Ron told him.

“Probably not as old as Dr. Diego from the sounds of it.” Harry replied. 

“And not as old as me.” JD spoke up, appearing behind them with the twins. Harry took one look at their faces and decided he did NOT want to know.

“Really?”

“I’m a hundred years older.” JD shrugged. 

“What is the doctor’s last name?” Fred Asked.

“He looks like someone from one of our history books.”

“... Yo! Diego!” JD turned to yell. “You’re in history books?!”

“... I told that wizard not to say anything!” Diego groaned, covering his face. The group burst into laughter while Percy began interrogating Diego now. Mackenzie walked in then, looking amused. 

“This sounds like a fun story.” She said, nodding to Harry.

“Hey, Sheriff!” He shouted and she laughed.

“No need to shout. Werewolf hearing means I can hear you even if you whisper.” She sat down and grinned. “I also hear someone has questions?”

“How do you differ from wizarding werewolves?” Percy Asked.

“Well for one- I’m a true werewolf. Wizard werewolves are cursed forms of werewolves. They came into being when someone wanted the reflexes and abilities of a werewolf but their magic still.” 

“... what?” Percy Asked and Harry noticed how Ron and the twins had gone pale, Ron grabbing his hand as the twins grabbed each other. He held Ron’s hand, confused.

“You can only really have one type of magic. I’ve heard of people being able to temporarily use other powers but it’s all their own magic. Wizarding magic doesn’t react well with werewolf magic or vampire.” Razi said. 

“When a true werewolf turns a wizard they lose their magic.” Mackenzie explained. “A wizard decided to change that…”

“And you get the wolves you lot have.” JD said, dragging the twins to the bar. Harry pulled Ron along to listen more. This sounded way more interesting. 

“What about people with creature blood?” Percy Asked.

“Usually that’s all wizarding creatures. I think though…” Razi turned to JD who sighed.

“My dad’s a Grey area.” They said. “Being Lucifer and all.”

“... I am staying away from any religious conversation.” Prim said, coming over to sit on a stool. 

“Please do.” JD grumbled. 

“But he can have half children?” Prim Asked.

“Yeah,” The Devil said with a shrug. “Also he can have Wizard kids- you guys go to Hogwarts? Ravenclaw was my sister.”

“How… why is this so unknown?!” Percy asked, looking completely startled.

“Well- we don’t really have any good points in the Wizarding World. Most of them dislike us given our magics are very different or they want to ignore some things.” JD remarked, smirking. “Like the fact half of your magic comes from us.”

“Like… we’re an evolution?” Harry asked after a moment of silence. “Or a mutation? Or is it…”

“Somewhat like a mutation.” Razi offered. “I know there have been multiple wizard children born from Dijin and human couplings. Salazar Slytherin is my… cousin…” he frowned. “I’m not exactly sure what my relation to him is actually…”

“Is that why he hated everyone?” Fred asked. 

“Cause he was jealous?” George asked. “Like- jealous of the fact he wasn’t a dijin?”

“Yes… and because well…” Razi hesitated. “Dijin magic has a bad effect on children under the age of ten. I never used my magic around Harry and the bowling alley is more leyline magic then dijin so it didn’t affect him but it can turn kids into Obscurial by affecting their magic.” The Weasleys blanched.

“Obscurial?” Harry asked.

“It usually happens to kids who are abused.” Percy said, voice shaky. “It’s like a parasite that feeds off of them until…” He shuddered again. 

“Because of this- dijin parents will leave to protect the kid. I know that Salazar’s mom- my aunt- did come back but he was still jealous and angry at her. More so when he learned of the long lives of dijin compared to wizards.” Razi shrugged. He looked sad and upset and Harry hated seeing it on his handsome face. It was awful.

“I believe Hufflepuff was a relative of mine,” Chetas remarked, startling the group who all turned to see her sitting on the couch with a smirk on her face. “Distant- I believe from a third cousin who was married to a Dijin and their daughter married a human.”

“How many other famous wizards and witches…” Percy breathed. A spark was in his eyes though and he grinned. “I need to know more!”

“I have some books about this you can look at later,” Razi said. He pointed to JD and Prim. “You two work.”

“I will- I was just drawn to the discussion here.” Prim said, getting up. “Kids- you can stay here or go back home. It’s a bit of a walk but it might be easier to go home to watch TV or play outside then stick around here.”

“Thank you mom,” Harry said before he and Ron went back to bowling while the twins followed JD around, grinning. Percy stuck around the bar, asking questions until Diego and Mackenzie left as more customers came in. He then actually offered to help- something Razi was happy about as he put him on taking orders while Razi was busy making drinks. 

After a while, they sent them over to the dinner cautiously. It was near lunch and despite being warned that Luce was… something, she was a good cook. Grace served them, laughing and smiling. Ron loved the burgers while Fred and George liked the chicken fingers. Percy went for a sandwich he did enjoy. After lunch, Harry took Ron back home with the older boys went back to the alley.

At home, Harry pulled out some movies he enjoyed- particularly the Great Mouse Detective. 

“This is so cool,” Ron breathed, grinning as he watched.

“Yeah- movies are awesome.” Harry agreed. They watched some more- including How to Train Your Dragon which made Ron squint at him.

“You are not allowed to train a dragon.” 

“But he’s so cute!!! Are dragons-”

“No Harry.” Harry pouted through the rest of the movie. After that- they had to go back for the party. It was really fun- with everyone in the know, they all kind of cut lose and JD showed off their wings. Razi turned into his dijin form upon Percy asking and Harry went pink.

“Okay- no more stripping Razi- there are kids here.” JD teased. Harry gave them a dirty look as his mother giggled and his aunt waggled her eyebrows at him.

His family was awful.

“How is your school going?” Diego asked after a while, drinking. 

“Pretty good. Our defense teacher always smells like garlic and stutters and our potions teacher…”

“He was much worse when I started school.” Percy said, shaking his head. “He’s better now- though I heard rumors…”

“He really went after Harry.” Ron said, frowning. “No one really knows why?”

“How old is he? What’s his name?” Prim asked.

“His name is Severus Snape and he is thirty-one.” Fred said.

“You know that?” Percy asked his brother.

“We try to know everything about our teachers.” George said with a grin. Prim was frowning.

“...I think… I think he knew Lily.” She squinted in thought. “I dimly remember a boy she called Severus hanging around us one summer when I visited her…”

“Why lash out at Harry?” Grace asked as the Weasleys and Harry made faces.

“No way! He’s Head of Slytherin House and like all of them hate muggleborns!” Ron said, shaking his head firmly.

“Yeah- it doesn’t make sense.” Harry said.

“Well, it might be a different person I remember then.” Prim said, shrugging. 

“Ugh, if this is some messed up friend zone shit I get to gag.”

“Stop swearing Grace.” Prim sighed. They turned the conversation back to school and Harry was soon watching Ron play Diego in chess, both frowning at the board and giving each other looks. Fred and George were snickering and showing JD something- the devil looked pleased.

Percy and Grace were talking about school and study tips.

“College sounds like an amazing invention! I don’t understand why the Wizarding World doesn’t have it!” Percy frowned. “We have apprenticeships but not this…”

“I think it’s useful. I’m thinking political science is what I’ll be doing.”

“Political science?” Percy asked- heavily interested. Harry rolled his eyes and went back to watching Ron play chess with Diego. When Ron won, Diego stared at the board in shock as Razi and Mac laughed- having been cheering Ron on.

“I am over five hundred years old and an eleven-year-old boy beat me.” Diego said in shock. Ron just grinned wider. Harry hugged him, laughing. 

No one noticed Chetas snapping a picture, a grin on her own face.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” JD said after a while of trying to distract Razi from noticing if the twins snuck some alcohol. Unfortunately, both Percy and Mackenzie were well aware of what they were doing. “Harry! You have one of my feathers in your wand!”

“...What?!” Harry asked. JD shrugged. 

“Yeah- it takes a really powerful wizard to wield one of those so congrats kiddo.” They ruffled his hair and went back to distracting Razi- uncaring of the bombshell they dropped on Harry.

At least he felt some relief at the idea that this wasn’t a bad thing. JD was annoying- not evil. 

The rest of the night was spent laughing and smiling- with Mackenzie groaning at JD.

It was perfect.

-0-

The days before Christmas flew by. They were spent baking with Chetas and Prim or having snowball fights with JD who cheated by flying. Percy spent a lot of time at the bowling alley reading books or helping Razi- feeling better that he was helping out somewhat while staying in Havenfall. Even if it wasn’t helping Prim out directly.

Fred and George had started minor pranks on Luce that were subtle enough she didn’t realize it was them. The group of supernatural beings hadn’t been happy to find out Luce was something and Chetas nonchalance about the whole thing made it worse.

“I’m old- I don’t care.” she told them. “She’s powerful yes- but I can’t tell if it is… fake? If she is aware?” 

“You mean if she’s one of those beings who can hide what they are and forget it for a life?” JD asked. “I thought Angels were the only ones who could do that.”

“Please do not make me wonder about religion.” Prim said as she leaned against the bar. The boys were all playing arcade games- having some sort of competition they were giggling over. “...If I told you Harry was under a prophecy, would you say I should tell him?”

“...Large change in conversation.” JD said, frowning.

“Prophecy is a tricky thing,” Razi said. “Most of the time I think they’re self-fulfilling- if someone says it will happen then it will. Yes- someone could defeat a powerful evil but if the evil goes after the person, it makes it more likely.”

“If it’s why his parents were killed I suggest you do so.” Chetas said. “He deserves to know- he is young yes, but he deserves it.”

“Yeah, but like… not now.” JD suggested. “Let him enjoy this Christmas.” Prim nodded and then they turned back to discussing Luce.

At the end of the night, Prim left the alley with a determined mind. She would tell Harry after he was done Hogwarts for the year.

-0-

Christmas morning always had sticky buns at the Evan’s household. Or cinnamon buns. Or both- as Prim did take into account the four extra guests.

“We eat first and then open gifts.” Prim told the group as she set out the plates of food. “So dig right in!” They all did, drinking peppermint hot chocolate with marshmallows. After breakfast- they all sat around eager for gifts. Their stockings were filled with candy that Grace insisted was from Santa. Their gifts that were opened were awesome too.

Harry grinned, opening a gift from Hagrid containing a bird call and a book on magical animals. Ron groaned, loudly.

“Promise you will not drag me out to find those creatures.” He gave Harry a look.

“At least not until you are adults,” Prim said, looking over at them. 

Harry also got a nice sweater from Mrs. Weasley- everyone did. Prim and Grace grinned at theirs and pulled them over their sleeping clothes. Grace had a pink one while Prim had a nice blue. Harry had a dragon on his sweater which he was thrilled about.

“No dragons in this house.” Prim said as she opened the gift for Spot from the Weasley family which was a bunch of homemade dog treats. 

“No fair.” Harry pouted as he opened some candy from Hermione and a few other similar packages from his roommates. As well he opened a few gifts from the other Havenfall residents. A book on non-Wizard magical animals from Razi, a cool book on famous wizards who had devil feather wands from JD, a bunch of candy from Mackenzie, a first aid kit from Diego and a book on Indian Magical Creatures from Chetas. 

Grace got him a couple of stuffed toys of magical animals that moved!!! He was thrilled by those- uncaring they were childish. Remus had gotten him some books on magical animals and Prim…

She had gotten him tickets to go see the magical zoo in New York during the summer and a special pass to go behind the scenes to see the baby animals.

Prim was soon tackled by Harry after he opened that. 

The last gift was a weird shimmery cloak everyone freaked out as being an Invisibility Cloak. Fred and George begged to be allowed to borrow it while Percy begged Harry not to let them.

Ron though just looked at Harry and said,

“We are not sneaking into the forest to look at animals with this.” 

“Fun sucker.”

Everyone else had a very nice gift haul and they spent the rest of the day inside eating junk food and watching Christmas movies so bad even the Weasley family knew it. 

It was a perfect Christmas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays everyone!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter- I probably will not have one for next week given I will be at my parents and I don’t have a laptop.   
> Notes:  
> -Yes- I kind of added the bit with Razi and his thoughts because my brain was wandering and my fingers started moving. And then it developed into indulging into the headcanon that everyone has a crush on Prim because why the hell not? Probably won’t have much significance to plot but fun. I also had to much fun with lore building. Yes- this is why they didn’t come forward sooner. Chetas is old and doesn’t care now that it’s a safe zone.  
> -And yes- this is me confirming 100% it is not Razi who Prim will be with. I don’t think anyone was actually sure it was him…  
> -I didn’t plan on the big reveal here but Chetas was like: Yo, I’m old and here- let’s do a reveal.


	12. Chapter 12

Going back to Hogwarts was depressing- a little. They all had enjoyed their time at the Evans’ home and were sad to leave. Harry himself felt a bit more upset given that he had spent more time around Havenfall’s Finest- as their group chat called them- and even learned that the devil feather in his wand came from JD, which helped ease his worries greatly.

“Look- my dad isn’t… evil.” JD made a face upon saying so. It was a few days before Harry left Havenfall and JD had pulled Harry aside to speak. “Is he a good man? No, no he is not but in the end, he is neutral. All people die Harry, and my dad is part of the Underworld. All of them typically are neutral beings who are not good or evil. Their actions may seem wrong and disturbing, but they are not evil. My dad is not a good man- he is not a good father and I don’t know why he does what he does. It doesn’t make him evil though in the sense that he is an evil person who… I am really messing this up.”

“A little,” Harry said, feeling amused.

“Gah- my father is a terrible person yes, but not evil in the sense most people would assume. In the larger scheme of things, he is a neutral character who from him good and evil can come.” JD told Harry. “I myself am considered a neutral entity. Chaotic neutral yes, but my abilities are neither good nor are they evil. The phoenix comes from my dad and is considered a good entity- though that is hilarious- while Dementors as well come from one of my dad’s children and are an evil entity. Having one of my feathers in your wand does not make you good or evil. It means you have the potential for good or evil. Like anyone else in this messed up world.”

“...Thanks.” Harry said, hugging the devil who hugged back.

“Okay, serious time over. I’m going to go prank Mac with the twins.” JD said, going off to do so, leaving Harry laughing.

Mac ended up forcing the three to do some community service after a prank they declared worth it but refused to reveal. It was dubbed the Noodle Incident by Grace who was upset no one would tell her what had happened. 

Everyone else just found it hilarious. 

Prim sent them off with a bunch of burgers and a hug for them all- even Percy who was a little pink about it.

They met Hermione- who they had Skyped with a few times- on the train station where she was studying a black notebook.

“Hey, Hermione!” Harry said. “What’s that?”

“Oh, a notebook I found. Apparently, it’s for people who suffer from homesickness or doesn’t have many friends but I don’t really need it you know?” Hermione shrugged, smiling at them. Ron and Harry grinned back. 

“Hmm, maybe my little sister would like it then,” Ron said, looking thoughtful. “I mean… she’s gotta be lonely by herself at home…”

“Would she mind me sending her it?” Hermione asked and Ron shook his head, laughing.

“Nah- she’ll love that an older girl sent her something cool.” Hermione nodded and began to write a letter in a notebook she pulled out- leading to teasing from Harry for copying him that she simply stuck her tongue out for.

The ride back to Hogwarts was spent filling Hermione in on their discovering of Havenfall’s Finest- something she was shocked by.

“The books all say…” Hermione closed her eyes and grimaced. “...Though the books can be wrong.” 

“...Wow.” Ron said and Hermione scowled.

“How did you learn that?” Harry asked gently. Hermione was silent for a moment.

“I found some books dated about a hundred or more years ago in my grandparents’ library. Most of them were…” She looked sick and Harry suddenly realized- in a way that made him feel ill- that Hermione was black. He knew about it- but had never really thought of it until then.

“Hermione…” Harry said softly, thinking of all the side looks he sometimes got in elementary school, the mutters around Sheriff Hunt at times that made her straighten her back.

“Being compared to an animal really shakes your belief in books,” Hermione said, voice thick. Ron dropped his book, looking ill himself as Harry went over to hug Hermione, the girl shaking as she hugged him back. 

After that, it was a very quiet drive back.

-0-

Harry didn’t really notice much of a difference at Hogwarts- other then his invisibility cloak going missing a few times with permission and Percy giving him a look. 

“You’re not giving it to them, are you?” He asked Ron.

“Nah,” Ron said with a laugh. “I’m not the type.” He’s fairly certain it’s Cedric- who finds the twins hilarious while Fred has a crush on him Harry can see a mile away. Mostly thanks to his own crush on Razi.

Not that it’s a crush.

Harry went to class, got fairly good grades and dragged Ron and Hermione to see Hagrid and his creatures often. In turn- he was dragged to study sessions and played chess with Ron. He refused to go near any sort of Quidditch anything which Ron has to agree was fair.

However- in mid-February- things changed for Harry and his friends.

Visiting Hagrid was such a usual hung that they didn’t notice how nervous he was as they entered his home. At least not until they spotted the egg in the fire.

“Hagrid… please don’t tell me…” Ron Said in utter horror as Harry cheered,

“It’s a dragon egg!” Hermione whimpered as Harry grinned up at Hagrid who grinned right back. 

“No!” Ron threw his hands up. “Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709. EVERYONE KNOWS THAT AND YOU WILL NOT RAISE A DRAGON HARRY.”

“...Watch me.” Harry replied, grinning evilly.

“I will call your mother!”

“Low blow!” Harry said, pouting. “C’mon Ron, this is exciting!”

“Do not make me make a sign like my mum made for Charlie,” Ron told Harry as Hermione suddenly clapped her hands.

“Charlie! Your brother that’s the dragon tamer-”

“-That is an awesome job-”

“-You can apply when you’re 17 Harry-” Ron told Harry as Hermione continued.

“-we can ask him to come and get the egg.”

“But-” Hagrid pouted, looking lost and Harry did too. Hermione gave them both looks- far to used to the two coming up with crazy ideas for animals.

“Can’t we wait till it hatches?” Hagrid asked.

“Hagrid- you live in a wooden house.” 

-0-

Ron asked his mom to send two new signs for both Harry and Hagrid stating that dragon breeding was outlawed as well as sending a letter to Charlie. However- it would take a while for them to get there, meaning the egg would probably hatch before they came.

“Yes.” Harry hissed, pumping his fist. “We get to see it hatch.”

“...That is a little cool but Harry- we are not keeping the dragon.” Ron reminded his friend who sighed as Hermione ignored both of them. 

“I’m going to make a creature sanctuary when I’m older,” Harry said. “I’ll have all the dragons.”

“Harry, no.” Ron groaned as Hermione looked over a letter she had gotten but hadn’t had time to look over.

“Oh, it’s from your sister Ginny. She’s thanking me for the diary.” Hermione said, smiling. “I’m happy she likes it.” Ron nodded, smiling as Harry ruffled Spot’s head.

“We’re going to see a dragon Spot! Though JD said that they have a sibling who is one…”

“What?!” asked Hermione and Ron.

“Yeah- humanoid dragons.” Harry shrugged. “Wizarding magic is weird and fiddles with things JD says. And then they said that’s all they want to believe because otherwise, they had to think unpleasant things which I don…” Harry’s face went pale as did his friends as they all wondered what JD could mean. If the Wizarding Dragons were original and there were humanoid ones that JD’s dad had as other children…

“That is disturbing. Thank you ever so much Harry.” Hermione said.

“You are not allowed to talk for the rest of the meal,” Ron told him, who sighed but agreed as Spot gave a dog laugh.

-0-

They were lucky that everyone was so used to them being around Hagrid’s hut that no one thought it odd they spent so much time there. Nor was it weird when Harry basically spent the entire afternoon the day the egg hatched there. He was lucky they didn’t have afternoon classes with Astronomy being that night.

Harry was thrilled with the little dragon, and when Charlie appeared a day later to take him away, Harry began pestering the redhead for any info he could get about the job of being a dragon handler.

After that, things went by even faster at Hogwarts- Harry and Hagrid both sad to lose the dragon, though Hagrid got busy with something in the forest he refused to tell the kids about in worry for what they would do.

Meaning an animal was badly hurt and he didn’t want Harry freaking out- not that he didn’t. Harry really wanted to check it out, but Ron and Hermione wouldn’t let him. They even stole the Invisibility Cloak, giving it to Percy until Harry calmed down.

Easter came and went- with the three staying at the castle. Prim had called Harry to explain that Grace was having a freaked out period as she was struggling with studying so unless he wanted to deal with that…

Harry had adamantly refused to do so.

As such, Harry enjoyed his first Hogwarts year rather well. 

Until the end of his exams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for short chapter. I just... I am really like not interested in year one because there's nothing interesting going on here, other then dragon but like both Ron and Hermione knew that the dragon needed to be GONE right off the bat because Harry is Harry and Hagrid is Hagrid. Hope you guys enjoyed this...


	13. Chapter 13

Years later, Harry would always swear he had no idea how the end of the year had suddenly convulsed and changed so quickly for him. It seemed as if one minute he was celebrating the end of finales with Hermione and Ron at Hagrid’s hut, the second it was if he was running from his life.

And not from an animal for once.

In another life, where he had been more suspicious and more capable of picking up hints and problems, he may have figured out what was going on. In this life, where he was more focused on animals and friends, he did not.

Thus, suddenly finding himself being kidnapped by a teacher was shocking. A lot. 

Harry and his friends had been walking to the Hufflepuff common room when Professor Quirrell came out of a hallway.

“Ah, Mr. Potter.” the teacher said with a forced smile. “Can you accompany me?”

“Yes, sir. See you guys.” Harry said, nodding to his friends, as he began to follow the Professor.

A little further away though and a wand was pointed at him before it all went dark. Harry woke up in a dark room, his head aching. He was tied up and Quirrell was glaring at a mirror in front of him.

“Why isn’t it working?” demanded the professor. Harry blinked, looking up at his professor in confusion and then fear when another voice began to speak.

“Use the boy…”

“Master, you are…”

“I am strong enough for this.” With that, the professor began to remove his turban he always wore, revealing a face on the back of his head. Harry choked, eyes widening in horror. “Harry Potter… you must have known I was around.”

“Who… who are you?” Harry asked. The face frowned, as did the professor from what Harry saw in the mirror.

“Don’t lie to me! You must have been wondering who let the troll in and who cursed that bludger!” Hissed the face.

“...No?” Harry shrugged. “I thought those were all accidents.” The face looked so offended that Harry couldn’t help his snort.

“HOW DARE YOU LAUGH!” The face snarled.

“Calm down Pitch.” Harry rolled his eyes.

“I am Lord Voldemort!” snarled the face and Harry suddenly felt his insides freeze. Lord Voldemort. The person who killed his parents.

“You’re supposed to be dead,” Harry said in fear. Voldemort chuckled darkly.

“No one has gone as far into the dark arts as I have,” Voldemort replied. “No one has tapped the well of knowledge that-” A low growl echoed through the room and Spot was there in front of him suddenly, snarling. “What… what is this?” Voldemort hissed, glaring at the dog. Spot growled again and burst into flames, snarling as he did so.

“My dog! He’s part hellhound!” Harry said cheerfully as Spot began barking- but not his normal barking. This barking was a deep, soul screaming bark that echoed through the room they were in. Voldemort flinched and Professor Quirrell screamed, clutching his head. Harry himself felt his head aching right over his scar. He gritted his teeth and tried not to scream as Spot let out yet another loud bark that filled the room.

“HOW?!” Voldemort screamed in rage. Harry just leaned his head back, trying to breathe as his scar  _ SCREAMED _ in pain.

A roar of rage erupted from Voldemort and Spot yelped. Harry looked to see what looked like a spirit rushing from the body towards him, Spot jumping for it, but missing as it passed through Harry.

Harry couldn’t help his scream in pain. All he could think was that he wanted it to end. He just wanted it to be over with.

He just wanted it done.

-0-

“VOLDEMORT WAS IN THIS SCHOOL!?”  _ Was that… mom? _

“Miss Evans, please calm down-”  _ Professor Dumbledore? _

“I will not calm down! My son is in the hospital wing after an attack at this school that you claim was safe!”

“Miss Evans-”

“If this was some test for him to discover if he is under a prophecy I will not hesitate to kill you Dumbledore!”

“Mom?” Harry asked softly, wincing. He opened his eyes as he heard someone rushing over, and his mother’s blurry face was in view. “Mom…”

“Harry! Honey.” Prim reached out to cup her son’s face, tears in her eyes. “Oh darling, you’re awake.”

“What… mom what…” Harry closed his eyes and tried to remember what had happened. “... Professor Quirrell! He had Voldemort on the back of his head!” Harry sat up but winced in pain. Prim pushed him down gently. 

“It’s okay honey- he’s gone,” Prim told her son gently. “Spot… scared him off.” Harry looked to the side where Spot lay, the dog asleep. Harry swallowed loudly as he remembered those barks. Those soul-shattering barks.

“My scar… it hurt when he was barking.” Prim frowned and looked thoughtful while he saw Professor Dumbledore frown himself.

“We’ll talk to the others- Diego probably knows something given how old he is, and JD is…”

“A devil and probably knows why a hellhound’s bark would hurt?” Harry asked. Prim nodded as Dumbledore chuckled to himself.

“I am endlessly amused by the fact I simply just did not notice who else was there in your hometown Miss Evans,” Dumbledore told Prim who laughed a little.

“It was quite the surprise to learn that they were who they were.” She agreed. She coughed then. “I… apologize for my temper before.” Dumbledore shook his head.

“No, you were right to be mad. I knew… something was off. And in hindsight my choice to hold the Stone here was…”

“Moronic,” Prim said dryly. Dumbledore chuckled but nodded.

“Why was he here?” asked Harry. Dumbledore sighed, looking very old.

“That would be my fault- I believed that while Quirrell was a follower of Voldemort, he wasn’t dangerous to any student nor was I aware of the fact he had Voldemort on the back of his head.” Dumbledore shrugged at a look Prim gave him. “He was after a valuable magical artifact that I was keeping in Hogwarts for a friend who was lead to believe that Gringotts wasn’t the safest place for it.”

“Oh.” Harry frowned. “Voldemort seemed convinced I was wondering who he was and stuff. He’s the one who let the troll in and set that bludger on me.”

“Which can both be explained away as magical incidents,” Dumbledore said, amused.

“People like him always believe they are the most important person in the world and that they cause more issues then they do,” Prim remarked. “I dated on like that- very briefly. She was convinced everyone believed her actions the most important and after I broke up she caused minor chaos for me I simply brushed off as bad luck.” Prim smirked. “She was furious I wasn’t too concerned about it.”

“The downfall of such people.” Dumbledore chuckled. “Now, Harry- I believe your friends wish to come speak to you. No one knows what happened exactly…”

“Personally I believe you should keep it quiet but drop a word to the Aurors.” said Prim. “I doubt the higher-ups want to believe he’s back but it’s a good idea to at least let someone be aware.” Dumbledore grimaced but nodded.

“I will do so. You are correct.” Dumbledore told Prim and he left as the door opened and Ron, as well as Hermione, came in, both looking extremely worried.

“Harry! Prim!” Harry smiled to himself, happy he had people who cared as his mother pulled out her phone to give the kids privacy and update Havenfall’s Finest on the situation.

He felt warm and happy, surrounded by people who cared.

-0-

“No.” Albus raised an eyebrow at Primrose who simply raised one back.

“You’re quick to shoot down my suggestions.” He said mildly.

“Only when they’re ridiculous. Harry would be the first to say he did nothing but talk to Voldemort, and that it was Spot who drove him off. He does not need points. Never mind he does not need points given to him at the end of the year feast!” Primrose shook her head. “I’m glad you decided to talk to me about this though I wonder why. I wonder why you reach out to me half the time this year!”

“It’s because you do not see me as a great leader- you see me as an old man,” Albus said honestly. “Perhaps I should have reached out to you about the Stone when Nicholas asked me to hide it here.” Nicholas and his belief Gringotts had been using the Stone to garner profits from those willing to pay. His paranoia was killing him. “I also thank you for… words on how a Stone is made.”

“As it’s from an anime Harry used to be obsessed with you shouldn’t thank me.” Primrose shrugged. “I need to head back to Havenfall- thank you for allowing me to come here.”

“You’re welcome,” Albus told the young woman. She removed her portkey from her pocket and activated it. Albus watched the space where she had left with a pensive face. 

He had started taking advice from Primrose when she had spoken with him after the troll incident. It did him well he believed. Having an unbiased opinion… at the same time, he found himself disliking her thoughts.

“I’ve gotten too used to being unquestioned.” He echoed his previous thoughts of the year. Even her suggestion to inform someone in law enforcement did not occur to him until then. It was… strange to suddenly be confronted with the realization he had gotten complacent. Or… settled he supposed with everyone asking for advice and looking at him favorably.

“Suppose even an old codger like me can learn new tricks.” He chuckled to himself. It was a fun thing to think about truly.

What other new things could he learn?

-0- 

The end of the year feast was delicious. As well, the entire house of Hufflepuff was thrilled to come in second in winning the House Cup with Ravenclaw beating them fairly.

According to rumors Snape had tried to give Slytherin extra points but was caught frequently. He was very bitter as he sneered at the school. 

“Couldn’t happen to a nice bloke.” Was all Ron had to say about it. 

Harry was happy he’d been released from the hospital wing- though no one was sure why his scar had hurt so much. JD’s confusion was the most, and they were reluctant to contact any sibling of theirs.

“Let’s just say we’re not the happiest family and leave it at that.” Was all they had to say about their reluctance. Razi promised a summer of research- one that Harry invited his friends to join.

“My mother said it would be fine for you to come.” He told his friends, stiffly given they were in public. “As well she extended an offer to my age mates,” he nodded to the Hufflepuffs around them, “to come for my birthday if they were able to. She’s attempting to arrange something like portkeys…”

“That would be splendid!” Justin told Harry.

Time went by quick and soon they were on the train ride home, Hedwig and Spot both eager to get home from what Harry saw. Ron and Hermione were eagerly talking about their summers- both excited to stay with Harry over the summer, while Harry was just looking forward to seeing his family.

His mother and Grace were waiting at the platform, chatting with the Weasleys and Grangers.

“Grace! You’ve graduated!” Harry cheered at his aunt, who laughed and hugged him.

“Yep! Haven’t heard back from any schools yet but I’m looking forward to it!” She told him with a big smile on her face.

“Ready to go?” Prim asked her son, smiling at him. Harry nodded and waved goodbye to his friends before taking the long rope that was their portkey and being swept away. They landed in the bowling alley where Havenfall’s Finest were waiting. As JD slung an arm around his shoulders, Harry grinned.

He was right where he was supposed to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... holy shit I actually finished a fic. Wtf... how...   
> Hope you guys liked! Next part will be up... soonish. I've got other stories I'm working on loves! See you soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Fun Fact: In this AU, Grace’s full name is Blossom Grace Evans but she goes by Grace because she was heavily teased as a kid thanks to the Powerpuff Girls and her name. Prim was teased to but it was more of ‘oh, Prim and Proper’ which she kinda turned on them a little. Because she did act prim and proper as a child which she then used to smash into their faces that yes, she is prim and proper, which kinda stopped the teasing.  
> The EXACT relationship is that Prim’s grandfather was sisters with Lily and Petunia’s grandfather. So they are second cousins. Their parents were SUPER close when they were still alive but there was issues with Prim’s grandmother and when Prim’s parents died, it was tense and then Lily and Petunia lost their parents and they only kept in contact through Christmas cards but with the death of their grandma, Petunia felt like she had to go to the funeral and here we are.  
> Prim is nineteen here. Lily died at age 21 which was about seven years before this story. So Prim was twelve. Prim really only remembers Lily as her pretty cousin from Britain. She has some photos but those are old and the last one was when Prim was five and lily was fourteen so yeah. Not close like that.  
> Also, I am going to be mum about anything Havenfall right now because I know I’m one of those people who read crossovers when I don’t know what it’s being crossed over with and I love learning about what the crossover is so I want to try and replicate that here. For those who are unaware- Havenfall is an otome game in which you can pick one of six characters to romance and you follow their story. I have kind of decided what route I am going to do which followers of me on tumblr probably can guess but while I do have plans, I will be posting an extra to this story that deals with ‘what if I chose BLANK instead?’ Or just random extra scenes.


End file.
